Rule2024-26787
Soybean Promotion and Research: Adjustments to Representation on the United Soybean Board
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
November 18, 2024
Effective
December 18, 2024
Issuing agencies
Agriculture DepartmentAgricultural Marketing Service
Abstract
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 2021. 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. These adjustments decrease Board membership for the State of North Dakota from four members to three members and increase Board membership for the State of New York from one member to two members, thus the total number of Board members will remain at 77. These changes will be reflected in the Soybean Promotion and Research Order (Order) and become effective with the Secretary of Agriculture's (Secretary) appointments for terms in 2025.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 222 (Monday, November 18, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 222 (Monday, November 18, 2024)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 90569-90572]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-26787]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Agricultural Marketing Service
7 CFR Part 1220
[Doc. No. AMS-LP-23-0079]
Soybean Promotion and Research: Adjustments to 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 2021. 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. These adjustments decrease Board membership for the
State of North Dakota from four members to three members and increase
Board membership for the State of New York from one member to two
members, thus the total number of Board members will remain at 77.
These changes will be reflected in the Soybean Promotion and Research
Order (Order) and become effective with the Secretary of Agriculture's
(Secretary) appointments for terms in 2025.
DATES: This final rule is effective as of December 18, 2024.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jason Julian, Research and Promotion
Division, at (202) 731-2149; or by email at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#95fff4e6fafbbbffe0f9fcf4fbd5e0e6f1f4bbf2fae3"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="2d474c5e424303475841444c436d585e494c034a425b">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
[[Page 90570]]
Executive Orders 12866, 13563 and 14094
USDA issues this final rule in conformance with Executive Orders
(E.O.) 12866, 13563, and 14094. Executive Orders 12866 and 13563, and
14094 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). E.O. 13563 emphasizes the importance of
quantifying both costs and benefits, reducing costs, harmonizing rules,
and promoting flexibility. E.O. 14094 reaffirms, supplements, and
updates E.O. 12866 and further directs agencies to ask for and consider
input from a wide range of affected and interested parties through a
variety of means. This final rule is not a significant regulatory
action within the meaning of E.O. 12866. So, this action has not been
reviewed by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).
Executive Order 13175
This action has been reviewed per the requirements of E.O. 13175,
Consultation and Coordination with Indian Tribal Governments, which
requires agencies to consider whether their rulemaking actions would
have Tribal implications. The review revealed that this regulation
would not have substantial and direct efforts on Tribal governments or
significant Tribal implications.
Executive Order 12988
This final rule was reviewed under E.O. 12988, Civil Justice
Reform. This rule is not intended to have retroactive effect.
The Act (7 U.S.C. 6309) provides that nothing in the Act may be
construed to preempt or supersede any other program relating to soybean
promotion organized and operated under the laws of the U.S. or any
State. There are no administrative proceedings that must be exhausted
prior to any judicial challenge to the provisions of this rule.
Paperwork Reduction Act
In accordance with OMB regulations (5 CFR part 1320) that implement
the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. part 35), the
information collection and recordkeeping requirements contained in the
Order and accompanying Rules and Regulations have previously been
approved by OMB and were assigned OMB control number 0581-0093.
Background
The Board was initially appointed on July 11, 1991, per the
provisions of the Act (7 U.S.C. 6301-6311), and the Order (7 CFR part
1220) issued thereunder. The Order set up an initial Board with sixty
members, composed of soybean producers. For purposes of setting up 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 1220.201(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. 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 that
Board membership for each unit be changed to reflect current production
levels.
Section 1220.201(d) 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 Sec. 1220.201(e): (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 1 member on
the Board; (2) units with at least 3 million bushels, but fewer than 15
million bushels shall be entitled to 1 board member; (3) units with 15
million bushels or more but fewer than 70 million bushels shall be
entitled to 2 Board members; (4) units with 70 million bushels or more
but fewer than 200 million bushels shall be entitled to 3 Board
members; and (5) units with 200 million bushels or more shall be
entitled to 4 Board members.
The Board was last reapportioned in 2021. The total Board
membership decreased from 78 to 77 members, with Alabama decreasing one
member. The final rule was published in the Federal Register (86 FR
61668) on November 8, 2021, and became effective with the 2022
appointments.
This final rule keeps total membership of the Board at 77 members.
Production data was used for years 2018-2022 (excluding the crops in
years in which production was the highest and in which production was
the lowest in each State) was reported by USDA's National Agricultural
Statistics Service (NASS). This change does not affect the number of
geographical units.
This final rule adjusts representation on the Board as follows:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Previous Current
State representation representation
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New York............................ 1 2
North Dakota........................ 4 3
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Board adjustments by this final rule will become effective with the
2025 appointment process.
Summary of Comments
A proposed rule was published in the Federal Register (89 FR 51277)
on June 17, 2024, with a 30-day comment period. USDA received three
comments. One comment communicated displeasure for North Dakota's
decreased number from four seats to three seats. Upon reviewing the
requirements of the Act and Order, USDA determined that leaving the
North Dakota seats at four 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 Sec. 1220.201(e) of the Order.
This was done by calculating production data for years 2018-2022
(excluding the crops in years in which production was the highest and
in which production was the lowest in each State) as reported by USDA's
NASS, resulting in a 3-year average for North Dakota that fell below
the required number of bushels to retain four seats under Sec.
1220.201(e)(5) of the Order. Accordingly, no change is made in response
to this comment.
One comment was in favor of the seat adjustments for North Dakota
and New York.
One comment was not germane to the proposed rule.
Regulatory Flexibility Act
Pursuant to the requirements set forth in the Regulatory
Flexibility Act (RFA) (5 U.S.C. 601-612), the Agricultural Marketing
Service (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 the RFA is to fit regulatory actions to the
[[Page 90571]]
scale of businesses subject to such actions in order that small
businesses will not be unduly burdened.
Effective August 19, 2019, the Small Business Administration (SBA)
(13 CFR 121.201) published an interim final rule (84 FR 34261) 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 413,358 soybean producers and an estimated 10,000 first
purchasers who collect the assessment, most who would be considered
small businesses under the criteria set up by SBA.
According to USDA's NASS 2022 Census of Agriculture, the number of
operations in the United States with soybean production totaled
270,851.\1\ The most recent (2022) Census of Agriculture data show that
roughly 19 percent of producers with soybean production, or 52,756
operations, have annual receipts of $1,000,000 or more.\2\ Therefore,
most soybean producers, 81 percent, are considered small businesses
with the new SBA guidance. It should be noted that producers are only
indirectly affected by this final rule.
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\1\ <a href="https://www.nass.usda.gov/AgCensus/index.php">https://www.nass.usda.gov/AgCensus/index.php</a>.
\2\ <a href="https://quickstats.nass.usda.gov/results/F0860BE3-0E1F-33B4-8571-74E2B061CBED">https://quickstats.nass.usda.gov/results/F0860BE3-0E1F-33B4-8571-74E2B061CBED</a>.
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This final rule imposes no new burden on the industry, as it only
adjusts representation on the Board to reflect changes in soybean
production. The adjustments are required by the Order and do not result
in a change to Board membership, which will remain at 77 members.
AMS is committed to following e-Government 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 found 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
research, Marketing agreements, Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements, Soybeans.
For the reasons set forth in the preamble, the Agricultural
Marketing Service amends 7 CFR part 1220 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. Amend Sec. 1220.201 by revising paragraph (a) to read as follows:
Sec. 1220.201 Membership of Board.
(a) For the purposes of nominating and appointing producers to the
Board, the United States shall be divided into thirty-one geographic
units and the number of Board members from each unit, subject to
paragraphs (d) and (e) of this section shall be as follows:
Table 1 to Paragraph (a)
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Number of
State/unit members
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South Dakota............................................ 4
Ohio.................................................... 4
Nebraska................................................ 4
Missouri................................................ 4
Minnesota............................................... 4
Iowa.................................................... 4
Indiana................................................. 4
Illinois................................................ 4
North Dakota............................................ 3
Wisconsin............................................... 3
Tennessee............................................... 3
Mississippi............................................. 3
Michigan................................................ 3
Kentucky................................................ 3
Kansas.................................................. 3
Arkansas................................................ 3
Virginia................................................ 2
Pennsylvania............................................ 2
North Carolina.......................................... 2
Maryland................................................ 2
Louisiana............................................... 2
New York................................................ 2
Alabama................................................. 1
Texas................................................... 1
South Carolina.......................................... 1
Oklahoma................................................ 1
New Jersey.............................................. 1
Georgia................................................. 1
Delaware................................................ 1
Unit:
Eastern Region (Connecticut, Florida, Maine, 1
Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island,
Vermont, West Virginia, District of Columbia, and
Puerto Rico).......................................
Western Region (Alaska, Arizona, California, 1
Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New
Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming).....
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* * * * *
Melissa Bailey,
Associate Administrator, Agricultural Marketing Service.
[FR Doc. 2024-26787 Filed 11-15-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE P
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