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77246 Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 247 / Tuesday, December 26, 2006/ Rules and Regulations

programs to improve, maintain, anddevelop markets for eggs, egg products,spent fowl, and products of spent fowl.

The Program is administered by theAmerican Egg Board, which iscomposed of egg producers and eggproducer representatives. Each of the 18members and their specific alternatesare appointed by the Secretary of 

Agriculture from nominations submitted by certified producer organizations. TheSecretary annually appoints half of theBoard, nine members and ninealternates, for 2-year terms.

AMS published in the FederalRegister (64 FR 8014) its plan to reviewcertain regulations, including the EggResearch and Promotion Order, underthe criteria contained in section 610 of the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C.601–612). An updated plan waspublished in the Federal Register onAugust 14, 2003 (68 FR 48573).

A notice of review and request forwritten comments on the Order waspublished in the February 6, 2006, issueof the Federal Register (71 FR 6021). Nocomments were received.

The review was undertaken todetermine whether the Order should becontinued without change, amended, orrescinded (consistent with theobjectives of the Egg Research andConsumer Information Act of 1974) tominimize the impacts on small entities.In conducting this review, AMDconsidered the following factors: (1) Thecontinued need for the Order; (2) thenature of complaints or commentsreceived from the public concerning the

Order; (3) the complexity of the Order;(4) the extent to which the Orderoverlaps, duplicates, or conflicts withother Federal rules, and, to the extentfeasible, with State and localgovernmental rules; and (5) the length of time since the Order has been evaluatedor the degree to which technology,economic conditions, or other factorshave changed in the area affected by theOrder.

Currently, there are approximately260 producers covered under the Order.AMS provides Federal oversight of theegg research and promotion program.

The Order is not unduly complex, andAMS has not identified regulations thatduplicate, overlap, or conflict with theOrder. Over the years, regulationchanges have been made to addressindustry operation changes and toimprove program administration. Thegoal of these evaluations is to assurethat the Order and the regulationsimplemented under it fit the needs of the industry and are consistent with theAct. Based upon the review, AMS hasdetermined that the Order should becontinued without change. AMS plans

to continue working with the eggindustry in maintaining an effectiveprogram.

Dated: December 19, 2006.

Lloyd C. Day,

Administrator, Agricultural Marketing Service.

[FR Doc. E6–22039 Filed 12–22–06; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–02–P

FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM

12 CFR Part 203

[Regulation C; Docket No. R–1275]

Home Mortgage Disclosure

AGENCY: Board of Governors of theFederal Reserve System.ACTION: Final rule; staff commentary.

SUMMARY: The Board is publishing afinal rule amending the staff 

commentary that interprets therequirements of Regulation C (HomeMortgage Disclosure). The staff commentary is amended to increase theasset-size exemption threshold fordepository institutions based on theannual percentage change in theConsumer Price Index for Urban WageEarners and Clerical Workers. Theadjustment from $35 million to $36million reflects the increase of thatindex by 3.32 percent during the twelve-month period ending in November2006. Thus, depository institutions withassets of $36 million or less as of 

December 31, 2006, are exempt fromcollecting data in 2007.DATES: Effective January 1, 2007.FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: JohnC. Wood, Kathleen C. Ryan, or Dan S.Sokolov, Counsels, Division of Consumer and Community Affairs, at(202) 452–3667; for users of Telecommunications Device for the Deaf (TDD) only, contact (202) 263–4869.SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The HomeMortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA; 12U.S.C. 2801 et seq.) requires mostmortgage lenders located inmetropolitan areas to collect data about

their housing-related lending activity.Annually, lenders must report that datato their federal supervisory agencies andmake the data available to the public.The Board’s Regulation C (12 CFR part203) implements HMDA.

Prior to 1997, HMDA exempteddepository institutions with assetstotaling $10 million or less, as of thepreceding year-end. Provisions of theEconomic Growth and RegulatoryPaperwork Reduction Act of 1996(codified at 12 U.S.C. 2808(b)) amendedHMDA to expand the exemption for

small depository institutions. Thestatutory amendment increased theasset-size exemption threshold byrequiring a one-time adjustment of the$10 million figure based on thepercentage by which the ConsumerPrice Index for Urban Wage Earners andClerical Workers (CPIW) for 1996exceeded the CPIW for 1975, and

provided for annual adjustmentsthereafter based on the annualpercentage increase in the CPIW. Theone-time adjustment increased theexemption threshold to $28 million for1997 data collection.

Section 203.2(e)(1)(i) of Regulation Cprovides that the Board will adjust thethreshold based on the year-to-yearchange in the average of the CPIW, notseasonally adjusted, for each twelve-month period ending in November,rounded to the nearest million. Pursuantto this section, the Board has adjustedthe threshold annually, as appropriate.

For 2006, the threshold was $35million. During the twelve-monthperiod ending in November 2006, theCPIW increased by 3.32 percent. As aresult, the exemption threshold is raisedto $36 million. Thus, depositoryinstitutions with assets of $36 million orless as of December 31, 2006, areexempt from collecting data in 2007. Aninstitution’s exemption from collectingdata in 2007 does not affect itsresponsibility to report data it wasrequired to collect in 2006.

Final Rule

Under the Administrative ProcedureAct, notice and opportunity for publiccomment are not required if the Boardfinds that notice and public commentare unnecessary. 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(3)(B).The amendment in this notice istechnical. Comment 2(e)–2 to section203.2 of the regulation is amended toimplement the increase in theexemption threshold. This amendmentmerely applies the formula established

 by Regulation C for determiningadjustments to the exemption threshold.For these reasons, the Board has

determined that publishing a notice of proposed rulemaking and providingopportunity for public comment areunnecessary. Therefore, the amendmentis adopted in final form.

List of Subjects in 12 CFR Part 203

Banks, Banking, Federal ReserveSystem, Mortgages, Reporting andrecordkeeping requirements.

I For the reasons set forth in thepreamble, the Board amends 12 CFRpart 203 as follows:

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77247Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 247 / Tuesday, December 26, 2006/ Rules and Regulations

179 FR 69692. See the preamble to our proposedrule for a full discussion of our proposed changes.

2United States General Accounting Office,Farmer Mac: Some Progress Made, but GreaterAttention to Risk Management, Mission, andCorporate Governance is Needed, GAO–04–116(2003). At the time of the report’s publication, theGAO was known as the General Accounting Office.

3 In response to requests from commenters, weextended the original comment period to April 17,2006 (71 FR 7446, Feb. 13, 2006), and subsequentlyreopened the comment period until May 17, 2006(71 FR 24613, Apr. 26, 2006).

PART 203—HOME MORTGAGEDISCLOSURE (REGULATION C)

I 1. The authority citation for part 203continues to read as follows:

Authority: 12 U.S.C. 2801–2810.

I 2. In Supplement I to part 203, undersection 203.2 Definitions, 2(e) Financial 

Institution, paragraph 2. is revised.Supplement I to Part 203—Staff Commentary

* * * * *

§ 203.2 Definitions.

2(e) Financial Institution

* * * * *2. Adjustment of exemption threshold 

 for depository institutions. For datacollection in 2007, the asset-sizeexemption threshold is $36 million.Depository institutions with assets at or

 below $36 million as of December 31,2006 are exempt from collecting data for

2007.* * * * *

By order of the Board of Governors of theFederal Reserve System, acting through theDirector of the Division of Consumer andCommunity Affairs under delegatedauthority, December 20, 2006.

Jennifer J. Johnson,

Secretary of the Board.

[FR Doc. E6–22027 Filed 12–22–06; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6210–01–P

FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION

12 CFR Parts 652 and 655

RIN 3052–AC17

Federal Agricultural MortgageCorporation Funding and FiscalAffairs; Federal Agricultural MortgageCorporation Disclosure and ReportingRequirements; Risk-Based CapitalRequirements

AGENCY: Farm Credit Administration.ACTION: Final rule.

SUMMARY: The Farm CreditAdministration (FCA, Agency, we) is

amending regulations governing theFederal Agricultural MortgageCorporation (Farmer Mac or theCorporation) risk-based capital stresstest (RBCST or model). We are makingthese amendments in response tochanging financial markets, new

 business practices and the evolution of the loan portfolio at Farmer Mac, as wellas continued development of industry

 best practices among leading financialinstitutions. The rule modifiesregulations in 12 CFR part 652, subpartB. The rule is intended to more

accurately reflect risk in the model inorder to improve the model’s output— Farmer Mac’s regulatory minimum risk-

 based capital level. The rule alsoclarifies Farmer Mac’s reportingrequirements in §655.50(c).

DATES: Effective Date: This regulationwill be effective the later of 30 days afterpublication in the Federal Registerduring which time either or both Housesof Congress are in session, or March 31,2007. We will publish a notice of theeffective date in the Federal Register.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

 Joseph T. Connor, Associate Director forPolicy and Analysis, Office of Secondary Market Oversight, FarmCredit Administration, McLean, VA22102–5090, (703) 883–4280, TTY(703) 883–4434;

or

Rebecca S. Orlich, Senior Counsel,Office of the General Counsel, Farm

Credit Administration, McLean, VA22102–5090, (703) 883–4020, TTY(703) 883–4020.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Purpose

The purpose of this rule is to revisethe risk-based capital (RBC) regulationsthat apply to Farmer Mac. Our proposedrule was published in the FederalRegister on November 17, 2005.1 Thefinal rule makes the following changesto the RBCST:

1. Establishes specific proxy valuesfor loans with missing or anomalous or

ambiguous data. In the final rule, theDebt-to-Assets ratio (DA) proxy value is0.50, the Loan-to-Value ratio (LTV)remains at 0.70, and the Debt ServiceCoverage ratio (DSC) is 1.25.

2. Requires the application of knowndata on Long-term Standby PurchaseCommitment (Standby) loans in themodel.

3. Revises the estimate of future years’ miscellaneous income to the annualized3-year weighted average of the mostrecent quarterly miscellaneous incomerate as a fraction of the current quarter’ssum of cash, investments, guaranteed

securities, and loans held forinvestment.4. Revises the treatment of gain on

sale of agricultural mortgage-backedsecurities (AMBS) by applying the 3-year gain rate factor to the most recent4 quarters of AMBS sales.

5. Revises the method used toestimate operating expenses to amoving-average of operating expenses asa percent of non-program assets and on-

and off-balance sheet programinvestments.

The proposed rule also includedprovisions related to improvedestimates of the carrying costs of troubled loans by revising assumptionsregarding Loan Loss Resolution Timing(LLRT), and related to adding acomponent to reflect counterparty risk.

These two items are not included in thefinal rule. The Agency plans to addressthese issues in a future rulemaking.

In developing this rule, we consideredthe comments and recommendationspertaining to the RBCST in theGovernment Accountability Office(GAO) report entitled, ‘‘Farmer Mac:Some Progress Made, but GreaterAttention to Risk Management, Mission,and Corporate Governance is Needed.’’ 2 We also met with Farmer Macrepresentatives on several occasionsprior to the development of theproposed rule and discussed possibleAgency revisions to the RBCST.

II. Background

Our analysis of the RBCST hasidentified a need to update the model inresponse to changing financial markets,new business practices and theevolution of the loan portfolio at FarmerMac, as well as continued developmentof industry best practices among leadingfinancial institutions. Our goal is toensure that the RBCST reflects changesin the Corporation’s business structureand loan portfolio that have occurredsince the model was originallydeveloped by FCA, while complying

with the statutory requirements andconstraints on the model’s design.

Our proposed rule was published inthe Federal Register on November 17,2005, and provided for a 90-daycomment period to end on February 15,2006. We later extended and reopenedthe comment period, which ended onMay 17, 2006.3 

III. Comments

We received seven comment letters onthe proposed rule from the following:Farmer Mac, the Farm Credit Bank of Texas (FCBT), AgFirst Farm Credit Bank(AgFirst), U.S. AgBank FCB (U.S.AgBank), Sacramento Valley FarmCredit (Sac Valley), First DakotaNational Bank (Dakota Mac), and AgStar

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