General Administrative Regulations, Subpart J-Appeal Procedure and Subpart T-Federal Crop Insurance Reform, Insurance Implementation, Regulations for the 1999 and Subsequent Reinsurance Years; Group Risk Plan of Insurance Regulations for the 2001 and Succeeding Crop Years; and the Common Crop Insurance Regulations, Basic Provisions

The Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (FCIC) finalizes the General Administrative Regulations; the Group Risk Plan of Insurance Regulations; and the Common Crop Insurance Regulations, Basic Provisions to make revisions mandated by the Federal Crop Insurance Act (Act), as amended by the Agricultural Risk Protection Act of 2000 (ARPA), and to require an earlier notice of loss for prevented planting in response to an Office of Inspector General Audit. The changes will apply for the 2004 and succeeding crop years for all crops with a contract change date on or after the effective date of this rule, and for the 2005 and succeeding crop years for all crops with a contract change date prior to the effective date of this rule. FCIC also made conforming amendments to the General Administrative Regulations, that provide the process for informal administrative review of determinations of good farming practices, to make the definition of "good farming practices" consistent with the definition contained in the Basic Provisions, and to consolidate all the provisions regarding the informal administrative review process for determinations of good farming practices in a separate section.