[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 100 (Friday, May 22, 2020)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 31062-31065]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-11155]
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Proposed Rules
Federal Register
________________________________________________________________________
This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains notices to the public of
the proposed issuance of rules and regulations. The purpose of these
notices is to give interested persons an opportunity to participate in
the rule making prior to the adoption of the final rules.
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Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 100 / Friday, May 22, 2020 / Proposed
Rules
[[Page 31062]]
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Office of the Secretary
7 CFR Part 9
[Docket ID: FSA-2020-0004]
Notice of Funding Availability; Coronavirus Food Assistance
Program (CFAP) Additional Commodities Request for Information
AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, USDA.
ACTION: Notice of funding availability; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: The Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP) helps
agricultural producers impacted by the effects of the COVID-19
outbreak. As provided in the CFAP regulation, this document requests
input to help USDA identify information about additional commodities
that are not already identified with payment rates in the CFAP
regulation for inclusion in CFAP.
DATES: We will consider comments that we receive on additional
commodities by June 22, 2020.
We will consider comments that we receive on the Paperwork
Reduction Act by July 21, 2020.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: William L. Beam, telephone (202) 720-
3175; email [email protected]. Persons with disabilities or who
require alternative means for communication (Braille, large print,
audio tape, etc.) should contact the USDA Target Center at (202) 720-
2600 (voice and TDD).
ADDRESSES: We invite you to submit comments to provide information
about additional commodities and comment on the information collection
specified in this document. In your comment, specify [Docket ID: FSA-
2020-0004], and include the volume, date, and page number of this issue
of the Federal Register. You may submit comments by either of the
following methods:
Federal Rulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID FSA-2020-0004. Follow the
instructions for submitting comments.
Mail: Director, SND, FSA, U.S. Department of Agriculture,
1400 Independence Avenue SW, Stop 0522, Washington, DC 20250-0522.
Comments will be available for viewing online at http://www.regulations.gov. In addition, comments will be available for public
inspection at the above address during business hours from 8 a.m. to 5
p.m., Monday through Friday, except holidays.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic
Security Act (CARES Act; Pub. L. 116-136) provides $9,500,000,000 to
the Secretary of Agriculture to provide assistance to agricultural
producers impacted by the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak. In
accordance with 15 U.S.C. 714b, the Secretary of Agriculture is also
using funds of the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) to assist
producers with the purchase of materials and facilities required in
connection with the production and marketing of agricultural
commodities, and the removal of surplus commodities from normal
marketing channels that may be currently unavailable. At this time, the
amount of CCC funds available for these purposes is limited to $6.5
billion. USDA implemented CFAP for certain commodities in the
regulation in 7 CFR part 9.
For the purpose of potentially supplementing the commodities listed
in the CFAP regulation, this document requests information on
agricultural commodities not already included in CFAP, which may be
negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, and for which sufficient
information is not currently available to USDA to include them in CFAP.
If sufficient information is received and a decision is made to add
commodities to the program, USDA will issue another NOFA listing the
additional commodities, the respective payment rates, application
dates, and any other unique information that producers will need to
know for those commodities and the availability of CFAP payments.
CFAP Background
Generally, in order to be eligible for a CFAP payment, a producer
must have suffered a 5-percent-or-greater price loss over a specified
time resulting from the COVID-19 outbreak or face additional
significant marketing costs for inventories--whether caused by lower
prices given significant declines in certain types of demand, surplus
production, or by disruptions to shipping patterns and the orderly
marketing of commodities. In addition, due to the COVID-19 outbreak,
many farmers markets, restaurants, and schools have temporarily or
permanently closed, thus causing significantly decreased demand for
commodities grown by producers that are ordinarily supplied to these
places.
The following commodities are included in CFAP as specified in the
CFAP regulation in 7 CFR part 9.
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Non-specialty crops Specialty crops Livestock Other
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Barley (malting)..................... Almonds................ Slaughter cattle-- Dairy.
mature cattle.
Canola............................... Apples................. Slaughter cattle--fed Wool.
cattle.
Corn................................. Artichokes............. Feeder cattle less than .......................
600 pounds.
Durum wheat.......................... Asparagus.............. Feeder cattle 600 .......................
pounds or more.
Hard red spring wheat................ Avocados............... All other cattle. .......................
Millet............................... Beans.................. Pigs. .......................
Oats................................. Blueberries............ Hogs. .......................
Sorghum.............................. Broccoli............... Lambs and yearlings. .......................
Soybeans............................. Cabbage. .......................
Sunflowers........................... Cantaloupe. .......................
Upland cotton........................ Carrots. .......................
[[Page 31063]]
Cauliflower. .......................
Celery. .......................
Corn, sweet. .......................
Cucumbers. .......................
Eggplant. .......................
Garlic. .......................
Grapefruit. .......................
Kiwifruit. .......................
Lemons. .......................
Lettuce, iceberg. .......................
Lettuce, romaine. .......................
Mushrooms. .......................
Onions, dry. .......................
Onions green. .......................
Oranges. .......................
Papaya. .......................
Peaches. .......................
Pears. .......................
Pecans. .......................
Peppers, bell type. .......................
Peppers, other. .......................
Potatoes. .......................
Raspberries. .......................
Rhubarb. .......................
Spinach. .......................
Squash. .......................
Strawberries. .......................
Sweet potatoes. .......................
Tangerines. .......................
Taro. .......................
Tomatoes. .......................
Walnuts. .......................
Watermelons. .......................
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Agricultural commodities that are not listed in the table above and
have widely published price data, such as those whose prices are
collected by USDA and commodities traded on the futures markets, have
been determined as having a minimal price impact due to COVID-19 and
are not included in CFAP.
Information regarding producer eligibility, the application
process, and calculation of payments is specified in the regulation in
7 CFR part 9. Agricultural commodities included in the regulation were
determined by USDA to have incurred a price decline of at least 5
percent between the weeks of January 13-17, 2020, and April 6-9, 2020,
for non-specialty crops, and April 6-10, 2020, for all other
agricultural commodities.
Potential Additional Commodities for CFAP
One purpose of this document is to request information from the
public to assist USDA in determining whether additional agricultural
commodities not listed above should be eligible for CFAP. It is not to
collect information on commodities already included in CFAP,
commodities already excluded from CFAP, or information on non-
agricultural products.
USDA requests information about agricultural commodities that the
public believes to have suffered a 5-percent-or-greater price loss
between the weeks of January 13-17, 2020, and April 6-10, 2020, for
specialty crops, and April 6-10, 2020, for all other agricultural
commodities. In providing input, please consider the following
questions; these questions are not intended to limit the type or amount
of information provided. The most helpful and informative information
for consideration by USDA is information that describes how the decline
in price was determined and documentation of the sources used to make
this determination.
(1) What commodities not listed above have suffered a 5-percent-or-
greater price loss between January and April 2020 and face additional
marketing costs due to COVID-19?
(2) What was the price received per unit of measure sold the week
of January 13 through January 17, 2020, (or if not available, the
nearest to this date) and what is the basis for the determination of
this price?
(3) What was the price received per unit of measure sold the week
of April 6 through April 10, 2020, (or if not available, the nearest
date to this) and what is the basis for the determination of this
price?
USDA is particularly interested in the obtaining information with
respect to the following specific categories of agricultural
commodities.
Nursery Products
If you are providing information for a nursery that produces
multiple products, such as trees, shrubs, or perennial plants, please
specify your responses to the questions below separately by product:
(1) For live trees, shrubs, or other plants that you produced, had
vested ownership in, and had in inventory at some point between January
15, 2020, and April 15, 2020, what was:
(a) The average price you received per plant specified by type of
nursery product sold (for example, roses, boxwoods, junipers) you sold
the week of January 13 through January 17, 2020, (or if not available,
nearest date to this);
(b) The average price you received per plant you sold the week of
April 6 through April 10, 2020, (or if not available, nearest date to
this);
(c) The number of plants you sold between January 15, 2020, and
April 15, 2020.
(2) The number and the contracted price of plants you produced that
left your nursery by April 15, 2020, and subsequently died or withered
due to no market, and for which you did not have
[[Page 31064]]
Federal crop insurance or obtain Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance
Program (NAP) to cover the loss.
(3) The inventory of plants ready for sale that did not leave the
nursery by April 15, 2020, and that will not be sold due to lack of
markets.
Aquaculture Products
The CFAP regulation provided that certain aquaculture producers
would be eligible for participation in CFAP. The determination of
eligible producers was made based upon consultation with the Department
of Commerce, as that agency is also establishing a program to assist
certain aquaculture producers. For CFAP, an eligible aquaculture
producer is one who has a privately-owned aquaculture business that
propagates freshwater and saltwater products in controlled environments
(including raceways, ponds, tanks, and recirculating systems). Farmed
shrimp and salmonids (trout and salmon) will be included in CFAP to the
extent USDA determines individual types of these products have incurred
a requisite decline in price.
Accordingly, through this document, USDA requests information from
aquaculture producers to make the determination of a price decline. If
the farm produces multiple aquaculture products, please specify your
responses to the questions below separately by product.
(1) For live aquaculture that you produced, had vested ownership
in, and had in inventory at some point between January 15, 2020, and
April 15, 2020, what was:
(a) The average price you received per product the week of January
13 through January 17, 2020, (or if not available, nearest date to
this);
(b) The average price you received per aquaculture product you sold
the week of April 6 through April 10, 2020, (or if not available,
nearest date to this);
(c) The number of aquaculture products you sold between January 15,
2020, and April 15, 2020.
(2) The number and the contracted price of aquaculture products you
produced that left your farm by April 15, 2020, and subsequently
spoiled due to no market, and for which you did not have Federal crop
insurance or obtained NAP to cover the loss.
(3) The inventory of aquaculture products as April 15, 2020, that
will not be sold due to lack of markets.
Paperwork Reduction Act Requirements
In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C.
Chapter 35), FSA is requesting comments from interested individuals and
organizations on the information collection activities related to CFAP.
FSA received emergency approval from OMB for 6 months, and FSA will
request 3-years approval for CFAP information collection activities.
Title: Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP).
OMB Control Number: 0560-0295.
Type of Request: New Collection.
Abstract: This information collection is required to support all
CFAP information collection activities (applicable NOFAs and the
regulation in 7 CFR part 9) to provide payments to eligible producers
who, with respect to their agricultural commodities, have been impacted
by the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak. The information collection is
necessary to evaluate the application and other required paperwork for
determining the producer's eligibility and assist in the producer's
payment calculations. FSA will start accepting CFAP applications later
this month. If a producer who applies must submit additional
documentation for eligibility, such as certifications of compliance
with adjusted gross income provisions and conservation compliance
activities, those additional documents and forms must be submitted no
later than 60 days from the date the producer signs the application.
For the following estimated total annual burden on respondents, the
formula used to calculate the total burden hour is the estimated
average time per response multiplied by the estimated total annual
responses.
Type of Respondents: Producers or farmers.
Estimated Annual Number of Respondents: 1,630,000.
Estimated Number of Responses per Respondent: 2.6822.
Estimated Total Annual Responses: 4,372,000.
Estimated Average Time per Response: 0.79309 hours.
Estimated Total Annual Burden on Respondents: 3,467,400 hours.
FSA is requesting comments on all aspects of this information
collection to help us to:
(1) Evaluate whether the collection of information is necessary for
the proper performance of the functions of FSA, including whether the
information will have practical utility;
(2) Evaluate the accuracy of FSA's estimate of burden, including
the validity of the methodology and assumptions used;
(3) Enhance the quality, utility and clarity of the information to
be collected; and
(4) Minimize the burden of the collection of information on
respondents, including through the use of appropriate automated,
electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or
other forms of information technology.
All comments received in response to this document, including names
and addresses when provided, will be a matter of public record.
Comments will be summarized and included in the submission for Office
of Management and Budget approval.
Environmental Review
The environmental impacts of CFAP have been considered in a manner
consistent with the provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act
(NEPA), the regulations of the Council on Environmental Quality (40 CFR
parts 1500-1508), and, because USDA will be making the payments to
producers, the USDA regulations for compliance with NEPA (7 CFR part
1b).
Although OMB has designated the CFAP rule as ``economically
significant'' under Executive Order 12866, ``. . . economic or social
effects are not intended by themselves to require preparation of an
environmental impact statement'' when not interrelated to natural or
physical environmental effects (see 40 CFR 1508.14). CFAP was designed
to avoid skewing planting decisions. Producers continue to make their
planting and production decisions with market signals in mind, rather
than any expectation of what a new USDA program might look like. The
discretionary aspects of CFAP (for example, determining Adjusted Gross
Income and payment limitations) were designed to be consistent with
established USDA and CCC programs and are not expected to have any
impact on the human environment, as CFAP payments will only be made
after the commodity has been produced. Accordingly, the following
Categorical Exclusion in 7 CFR part 1b applies: 1b.3(2), which applies
to activities that deal solely with the funding of programs, such as
program budget proposals, disbursements, and the transfer or
reprogramming of funds. As such, the implementation of and
participation in CFAP do not constitute major Federal actions that
would significantly affect the quality of the human environment,
individually or cumulatively. Therefore, an environmental assessment or
environmental impact statement for CFAP will not be prepared; this
document serves as documentation of the programmatic environmental
[[Page 31065]]
compliance decision for this federal action.
Federal Assistance Programs
The title and number of the Federal assistance programs, as found
in the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance, to which this NOFA
applies is CFAP and 10.130.
Stephen L. Censky,
Vice Chairman, Commodity Credit Corporation, and Deputy Secretary, U.S.
Department of Agriculture.
[FR Doc. 2020-11155 Filed 5-20-20; 4:15 pm]
BILLING CODE 3410-05-P