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6134Proposed RulesFederal RegisterVol. 62, No. 28Tuesday, February 11, 1997This section of the FEDERAL REGISTERcontains notices to the public of the proposedissuance of rules and regulations. Thepurpose of these notices is to give interestedpersons an opportunity to participate in therule making prior to the adoption of the finalrules.DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTUREFederal Crop Insurance Corporation7 CFR Parts 401 and 457Fresh Plum Crop InsuranceProvisions; and Common CropInsurance Regulations; Plum CropInsurance ProvisionsAGENCY: Federal Crop InsuranceCorporation, USDA.ACTION: Proposed rule.SUMMARY: The Federal Crop InsuranceCorporation (FCIC) proposes specificcrop provisions for the insurance ofplums. The provisions will be used inconjunction with the Common CropInsurance Policy Basic Provisions,which contain standard terms andconditions common to most crops. Theintended effect of this action is toprovide policy changes to better meetthe needs of the insured, include thecurrent Fresh Plum Crop InsuranceEndorsement with the Common CropInsurance Policy for ease of use andconsistency of terms, and to restrict theeffects of the current Fresh PlumEndorsement to the 1997 and prior cropyears.DATES: Written comments on thisproposed rule will be accepted untilclose of business April 14, 1997, andwill be considered when the rule is tobe made final. The comment period forinformation collections under thePaperwork Reduction Act of 1995continues through April 11, 1997.ADDRESSES: Interested persons areinvited to submit written comments tothe Director, Product DevelopmentDivision, Federal Crop InsuranceCorporation, United States Departmentof Agriculture, 9435 Holmes Road,Kansas City, MO, 64131. Writtencomments will be available for publicinspection and copying in room 0324,South Building, United StatesDepartment of Agriculture, 14th andIndependence Avenue, SW.,Washington, DC, 8:15 a.m. to 4:45 p.m.,est, Monday through Friday, exceptholidays.FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:Stephen Hoy, Program Analyst,Research and Development, ProductDevelopment Division, Federal CropInsurance Corporation, at the KansasCity, MO address listed above,telephone (816) 926–7730.SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:Executive Order No. 12866The amendments set forth in thisproposed rule contain informationcollection that requires clearance by theOffice of Management and Budget(OMB) under provisions of 44 U.S.C.chapter 35.Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995The information collectionrequirements contained in theseregulations were previously approvedby OMB pursuant to the PaperworkReduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C.chapter 35) under OMB control number0563–0003 through September 30, 1998.Section 7 of the 1998 Plum CropProvisions adds interplanting as aninsurable farming practice as long as itis interplanted with another perennialcrop and does not adversely affect theinsured crop. This practice was notinsurable under the previous fresh plumendorsement and the General CropInsurance Policy 88–G (REV 3–91) towhich it attached. Consequently,interplanting information will need tobe collected using the FCI–12–P Pre-Acceptance Perennial Crop InspectionReport form for approximately twopercent of the insureds who interplanttheir plum crop. Standard interplantinglanguage has been added to mostperennial crops to make insuranceavailable for more perennial cropproducers and reduce the acreage thatwill need to be placed into thenoninsured crop disaster assistanceprogram (NAP).The other amendments set forth inthis proposed rule to not containadditional information collections thatrequire clearance by OMB under theprovisions of 44 U.S.C. chapter 35.The title of this information collectionis ‘‘Catastrophic Risk Protection Planand Related Requirements including,Common Crop Insurance Regulations;Plum Crop Insurance Provision.’’ Theinformation to be collected includes acrop insurance application and anacreage report. Information collectedfrom the application and acreage reportis electronically submitted to FCIC bythe reinsured companies. Potentialrespondents to this informationcollection are producers of plums thatare eligible for Federal crop insurance.The information requested isnecessary for the reinsured companiesand FCIC to provide insurance andreinsurance, determine eligibility,determine the correct parties to theagreement or contract, determine andcollect premiums or other monetaryamounts, and pay benefits.All information is reported annually.The reporting burden for this collectionof information is estimated to average16.9 minutes per response for each ofthe 3.6 responses from approximately1,755,015 respondents. The total annualburden on the public for the informationcollection is 2,669,932 hours.FCIC is requesting comments on thefollowing: (a) Whether the proposedcollection of information is necessaryfor the proper performance of thefunctions of the agency, includingwhether the information shall havepractical utility; (b) the accuracy of theagency’s estimate of the burden of theproposed collection of information; (c)ways to enhance the quality, utility, andclarity of the information to becollected; and (d) ways to minimize theburden of the collection of informationon respondents, including through theuse of automated collection techniquesor other forms of information gatheringtechnology.Comments regarding paperworkreduction should be submitted to theDesk Officer for Agriculture, Office ofInformation and Regulatory Affairs,Office of Management and Budget,Washington, DC 20503.OMB is required to make a decisionconcerning the collections ofinformation contained in theseproposed regulations between 30 and 60days after submission to OMB.Therefore, a comment to OMB is bestassured of having full effect if OMBreceives it within 30 days ofpublication. This does not affect thedeadline for the public to comment onthe proposed regulation.Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of1995Title II of the Unfunded MandatesReform Act of 1995 (UMRA), PublicLaw 104–4, establishes requirements for