Softwood Lumber Research, Promotion, Consumer Education and Industry Information Order; Change to the Board Membership Eligibility Requirements

• Published date: 27 July 2020
• Citation: 85 FR 45057
• Record Number: 2020-15715
• Section: Rules and Regulations
• Court: Agricultural Marketing Service,Agriculture Department

This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains regulatory documents having general

applicability and legal effect, most of which

are keyed to and codified in the Code of

Federal Regulations, which is published under

50 titles pursuant to 44 U.S.C. 1510.

The Code of Federal Regulations is sold by

the Superintendent of Documents.

Rules and Regulations Federal Register

45057

Vol. 85, No. 144

Monday, July 27, 2020

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Agricultural Marketing Service

7 CFR Part 1217

[Document Number AMS–SC–20–0031]

Softwood Lumber Research,

Promotion, Consumer Education and

Industry Information Order; Change to

the Board Membership Eligibility

Requirements

AGENCY

: Agricultural Marketing Service,

USDA.

ACTION

: Final rule.

SUMMARY

: This rule changes the

eligibility requirements for nominees

representing domestic manufacturers on

the Softwood Lumber Board (Board)

under the Agricultural Marketing

Service’s (AMS) regulations regarding a

national research and promotion

program for softwood lumber. This

change will help facilitate program

operations.

DATES

: Effective August 26, 2020.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT

:

Andrea Ricci, Marketing Specialist,

Promotion and Economics Division,

Specialty Crops Program, AMS, USDA,

755 E Nees Avenue #25985, Fresno, CA

93720; telephone: (202) 572–1442; or

electronic mail: Andrea.Ricci@usda.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

: This rule

affecting 7 CFR part 1217 (herein the

‘‘Order’’) is authorized by the

Commodity Promotion, Research, and

Information Act of 1996 (1996 Act) (7

U.S.C. 7411–7425).

Executive Orders 12866, 13563, and

13771

Executive Orders 12866 and 13563

direct agencies to assess all costs and

benefits of available regulatory

alternatives and, if regulation is

necessary, to select regulatory

approaches that maximize net benefits

(including potential economic,

environmental, public health and safety

effects, distributive impacts and equity).

Executive Order 13563 emphasizes the

importance of quantifying both costs

and benefits, reducing costs,

harmonizing rules and promoting

flexibility. This action falls within a

category of regulatory actions that the

Office of Management and Budget

(OMB) exempted from Executive Order

12866 review. Additionally, because

this rule does not meet the definition of

a significant regulatory action it does

not trigger the requirements contained

in Executive Order 13771. See OMB’s

Memorandum titled ‘‘Interim Guidance

Implementing Section 2 of the Executive

Order of January 30, 2017, titled

‘Reducing Regulation and Controlling

Regulatory Costs’ ’’ (February 2, 2017).

Executive Order 13175

This action has been reviewed in

accordance with the requirements of

Executive Order 13175, Consultation

and Coordination with Indian Tribal

Governments. The review reveals that

this regulation would not have

substantial and direct effects on Tribal

governments and would not have

significant Tribal implications.

Executive Order 12988

This rule has been reviewed under

Executive Order 12988, Civil Justice

Reform. It is not intended to have

retroactive effect. Section 524 of the

1996 Act (7 U.S.C. 7423) provides that

it shall not affect or preempt any other

Federal or State law authorizing

promotion or research relating to an

agricultural commodity.

Section 519 of the 1996 Act (7 U.S.C.

7418) provides that a person subject to

an order may file a written petition with

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)

stating that an order, any provision of an

order, or any obligation imposed in

connection with an order, is not

established in accordance with the law,

and request a modification of an order

or an exemption from an order. Any

petition filed challenging an order, any

provision of an order, or any obligation

imposed in connection with an order,

must be filed within two years after the

effective date of an order, provision, or

obligation subject to challenge in the

petition. The petitioner will have the

opportunity for a hearing on the

petition. Thereafter, USDA will issue a

ruling on the petition. The 1996 Act

provides that the district court of the

United States for any district in which

the petitioner resides or conducts

business shall have the jurisdiction to

review a final ruling on the petition, if

the petitioner files a complaint for that

purpose not later than 20 days after the

date of the entry of USDA’s final ruling.

Background

This rule changes the eligibility

requirements for nominees representing

domestic manufacturers on the Board.

The Board administers the Softwood

Lumber Research, Promotion, Consumer

Education and Industry Information

Order (Order) with oversight by the

USDA. Pursuant to the Order,

assessments are collected from domestic

manufacturers and importers, and are

used for research and promotion

projects designed to strengthen the

position of softwood lumber in the

marketplace. This change was

recommended to the Secretary by the

Board at its February 26, 2020, meeting,

and will contribute to the effective

administration of the program.

Section 1217.40 provides for the

establishment of the Board. The Board

is comprised of manufacturers for the

U.S. market who manufacture and

domestically ship or import 15 million

board feet or more of softwood lumber

in the United States during a fiscal

period. In November 2018, the Board

recommended revising the Board

composition from 19 to 14 members

over a three-year period. The Board took

into consideration the consolidation of

the softwood lumber industry since the

inception of the program, along with the

number of companies eligible to be

represented on the Board. Additionally,

the Board recommended that U.S. Board

members reside in the region they

represent. This was intended to ensure

that entities from outside the U.S. that

own softwood lumber entities within

the U.S. could only represent a U.S.

region on the Board if the individual

seeking nomination resided in the

respective region. The recommendation

was finalized in a rule that was

published in the Federal Register on

September 25, 2019 (84 FR 50294). The

2021 Board and each subsequent Board

shall be comprised of 14 members, 10 of

whom shall represent domestic

manufacturers and four of whom shall

represent importers. Domestic

manufacturer Board members represent

three regions: U.S. South Region; U.S.

West Region; and Northeast and Lake

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Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 144 / Monday, July 27, 2020 / Rules and Regulations

1

SBA does have a small business size standard

for ‘‘Sawmills’’ of 500 employees (see https://

www.sba.gov/sites/default/files/2019-08/

SBA%20Table%20of%20Size%20Standards_

Effective%20Aug%2019%2C%202019_Rev.pdf).

Based on USDA’s understanding of the lumber

industry, using this criterion would be impractical

as sawmills often use contractors rather than

employees to operate and, therefore, many mills

would fall under this criterion while being, in

reality, a large business. Therefore, USDA used

‘‘agricultural service firm’’ as a more appropriate

criterion for this analysis.

States Region. The Order prescribes that

domestic manufacturer representatives

reside in the region they represent.

Board Recommendation

The Board met on February 26, 2020,

and recommended the Order be revised

to allow a domestic manufacturer’s

representative to seek nomination in

any of the regions where the

manufacturer they represent has

manufacturing operations. The current

Order limits manufacturer

representatives to seek nomination only

in the region where he or she resides.

The Board conducted nominations

under the newly implemented

provisions and found that clarification

in the Order was needed to reflect the

multi-regional nature of manufacturers

rather than the individual nominee.

Several domestic manufacturers have

operations in multiple U.S. regions.

Revising the Order to allow a person to

seek nomination in one of the regions

where the manufacturer they represent

has operations will provide flexibility to

the Order, while maintaining the intent

that Board members representing

domestic manufacturers reside in the

U.S. This change will help facilitate

program operations. Therefore,

§ 1217.40 (b)(1), (b)(1)(i), (b)(1)(ii), and

(b)(1)(iii) will be revised accordingly.

Final Regulatory Flexibility Act

Analysis

In accordance with the Regulatory

Flexibility Act (RFA) (5 U.S.C. 601–

612), the Agricultural Marketing Service

(AMS) is required to examine the

impact of the action on small entities.

Accordingly, AMS has considered the

economic impact of this action on such

entities.

The purpose of the RFA is to fit

regulatory actions to the scale of

businesses subject to the actions so that

small businesses will not be

disproportionately burdened. The Small

Business Administration (SBA) defines,

in 13 CFR part 121, small agricultural

service firms (domestic softwood

lumber manufacturers and importers) as

those having annual receipts of no more

than $8 million.

1

The Random Lengths Publications,

Inc.’s yearly average framing lumber

composite price was $356 per thousand

board feet (mbf) in 2019. Dividing the $8

million threshold that defines an

agricultural service firm as small by this

price results in a maximum threshold of

22.5 million board feet (mmbf) of

softwood lumber per year that a

domestic manufacturer or importer may

ship to be considered a small entity for

purposes of the RFA. Table 1 shows the

number of entities and the amount of

volume they represent that may be

categorized as small or large based on

the SBA definition.

T

ABLE

1—D

OMESTIC

M

ANUFACTURERS AND

I

MPORTERS BY

SBA S

IZE

S

TANDARDS

[2019]

Domestic manufacturers Importers Totals

Entities Volume

(MMBF) Entities Volume

(MMBF) Entities Volume

(MMBF)

Small ........................................................ 226 1,991 774 1,257 1,000 3,248

Large ........................................................ 290 32,229 106 32,582 396 64,811

Total .................................................. 516 34,220 880 33,839 1,396 68,059

Sources: Forest Economic Advisors; Customs and Border Protection.

As shown in Table 1, there are a total

of 1,396 domestic manufacturers and

importers of softwood lumber based on

2019 data. Of these, 1,000 entities, or 72

percent, shipped or imported less than

22.5 mmbf and would be considered

small based on the SBA definition.

These 1,000 entities domestically

manufactured or imported 3.25 billion

board feet (bbf) in 2019, less than 5

percent of total volume. The revision to

the Board eligibility requirements will

not disproportionately burden small

domestic manufacturers and importers

of softwood lumber.

This rule revises § 1217.40 (b)(1),

(b)(1)(i), (b)(1)(ii), and (b)(1)(iii) to allow

domestic softwood lumber manufacturer

representatives to seek nomination in

any of the regions where the

manufacturer they represent has

manufacturing operations. The Order is

administered by the Board with

oversight by the USDA. In accordance

with the program requirements,

assessments are collected from domestic

manufacturers and importers, and are

used for research and promotion

projects designed to strengthen the

position of softwood lumber in the

marketplace. Revising the Order to

allow a person to seek nomination in

one of the regions where the softwood

lumber manufacturer has operations

will provide flexibility to the Order,

while maintaining the intent that Board

members representing domestic

manufacturers reside in the U.S.

Regarding alternatives, the Board

considered not changing the nominee

eligibility requirements; however, the

entire Board determined that making

this change will better align the Order

provisions with industry practices and

will help facilitate Board operations.

This change was discussed at the

Industry Relations and Governance

Committee meeting on February 18,

2020, and at the Board meeting on

February 26, 2020.

In accordance with the Paperwork

Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C.

Chapter 35), the information collection

and recordkeeping requirements that are

imposed by the Order have been

approved previously under OMB

control number 0581–0093. This rule

will not result in a change to the

information collection and

recordkeeping requirements previously

approved and will impose no additional

reporting and recordkeeping burden on

domestic manufacturers and importers

of softwood lumber.

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

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Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 144 / Monday, July 27, 2020 / Rules and Regulations

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.

A proposed rule concerning this

action was published in the Federal

Register on May 11, 2020 (85 FR 27690).

A 30-day comment period ending June

10, 2020, was provided to allow

interested persons to submit comments.

Analysis of Comments

Two comments were received in

response to the proposed rule. One

commenter supported the change stating

that it will give the board more

flexibility in seeking the best qualified

people to serve on the Board. The other

comment was outside the scope of this

action.

After consideration of all relevant

material presented, including the

information and recommendations

submitted by the Board, the comment

received, and other available

information, it is hereby found that this

rule, as hereinafter set forth, is

consistent with and will effectuate the

purposes of the 1996 Act.

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 1217

Administrative practice and

procedure, Advertising, Consumer

information, Marketing agreements,

Softwood Lumber promotion, Reporting

and recordkeeping requirements.

For the reasons set forth in the

preamble, 7 CFR part 1217, is amended

as follows:

PART 1217—SOFTWOOD LUMBER

RESEARCH, PROMOTION,

CONSUMER EDUCATION AND

INDUSTRY INFORMATION ORDER

■1. The authority citation for 7 CFR

part 1217 continues to read as follows:

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 7411–7425; 7 U.S.C.

7401.

■2. In § 1217.40, paragraphs (b)(1),

(b)(1)(i), (b)(1)(ii), and (b)(1)(iii), are

revised to read as follows:

§ 1217.40 Establishment and membership.

* * * * *

(b) * * *

(1) Domestic manufacturers. Domestic

manufacturers must reside in the United

States. For the 2020 Board, 11 members

shall represent domestic manufacturers

and for the 2021 Board and each

subsequent Board, ten members shall

represent domestic manufacturers who

reside in the following three regions:

(i) Five members shall represent

manufacturers of softwood lumber in

the U.S. South Region, which consists of

the states of Alabama, Arkansas,

Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi,

North Carolina, Oklahoma, South

Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia,

and West Virginia. For the 2020 Board,

of these five members, two must

represent large and three must represent

small domestic manufacturers. For the

2021 Board and each subsequent Board

of these five members, two must

represent large, two must represent

small, and one may represent domestic

manufacturers of any size;

(ii) Five members shall represent

manufacturers of softwood lumber in

the U.S. West Region for the 2020

Board, and for the 2021 Board and each

subsequent Board, four members shall

manufacture softwood lumber in the

U.S. West Region, which consists of the

states of Alaska, Arizona, California,

Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana,

Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota,

Oregon, South Dakota, Utah,

Washington, and Wyoming. For the

2020 Board, of these five members, four

must represent large and one must

represent small domestic manufacturers.

For the 2021 Board and each subsequent

Board, of the four members, two must

represent large, one must represent

small, and one may represent domestic

manufacturers of any size; and

(iii) One member shall represent a

manufacturer of softwood lumber in the

Northeast and Lake States Region,

which consists of the states of

Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana,

Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine,

Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan,

Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New

Hampshire, New Jersey, New York,

Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island,

Vermont, Wisconsin and all other parts

of the United States not listed in

paragraph (b)(1)(i), (ii), or (iii) of this

section. This member may represent

domestic manufacturers of any size.

* * * * *

Erin Morris,

Associate Administrator, Agricultural

Marketing Service.

[FR Doc. 2020–15715 Filed 7–24–20; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–02–P

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration

14 CFR Part 39

[Docket No. FAA–2018–0753; Product

Identifier 2018–SW–033–AD; Amendment

39–21169; AD 2020–15–06]

RIN 2120–AA64

Airworthiness Directives; PZL Swidnik

S.A. Helicopters

AGENCY

: Federal Aviation

Administration (FAA), DOT.

ACTION

: Final rule; request for

comments.

SUMMARY

: The FAA is adopting a new

airworthiness directive (AD) for certain

PZL Swidnik S.A. (PZL) Model W–3A

helicopters. This AD requires repetitive

inspections of the main transmission

(Main XSMN) case for a crack, and

depending on the inspection outcome,

removing the WR–3 Main XSMN from

service before further flight. This AD

was prompted by a report of cracks in

a Main XSMN case. The actions of this

AD are intended to address an unsafe

condition on these products.

DATES

: This AD becomes effective

August 11, 2020.

The Director of the Federal Register

approved the incorporation by reference

of a certain document listed in this AD

as of August 11, 2020.

The FAA must receive comments on

this AD by September 25, 2020.

ADDRESSES

: You may send comments by

any of the following methods:

•Federal eRulemaking Docket: Go to

https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the

online instructions for sending your

comments electronically.

•Fax: 202–493–2251.

•Mail: Send comments to the U.S.

Department of Transportation, Docket

Operations, M–30, West Building

Ground Floor, Room W12–140, 1200

New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC

20590–0001.

•Hand Delivery: Deliver to the

‘‘Mail’’ address between 9 a.m. and 5

p.m., Monday through Friday, except

Federal holidays.

Examining the AD Docket

You may examine the AD docket on

the internet at https://

www.regulations.gov by searching for

and locating Docket No. FAA–2018–

0753; or in person at Docket Operations

between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday

through Friday, except Federal holidays.

The AD docket contains this AD, the

European Aviation Safety Agency (now

European Union Aviation Safety

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