[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 41 (Thursday, February 29, 1996)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 7756-7757]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-4702]



 ========================================================================
 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.
 
 ========================================================================
 

  Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 41 / Thursday, February 29, 1996 / 
Proposed Rules  

[[Page 7756]]


DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Agricultural Marketing Service

7 CFR Part 28

[CN-96-001]


Revision of User Fees for 1996 Crop Cotton Classification 
Services to Growers

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA.

ACTION: Proposed rule.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) is proposing to 
reduce user fees for cotton producers for 1996 crop cotton 
classification services under the Cotton Statistics and Estimates Act 
in accordance with the formula provided in the Uniform Cotton Classing 
Fees Act of 1987 and remove obsolete regulations. The 1995 user fee for 
the classification service was $1.60 per bale. This proposal would 
reduce the fee for the 1996 crop to $1.50 per bale. The proposed 
reduction in fees is due to increased efficiency in classing operations 
and is sufficient to recover the costs of providing classification 
services, including costs for administration, supervision, and 
development and maintenance of standards.

DATES: Comments must be received by April 1, 1996.

ADDRESSES: Comments and inquiries should be addressed to Lee Cliburn, 
Cotton Division, AMS, USDA, room 2641-S, P.O. Box 96456, Washington, DC 
20090-6456. Comments will be available for public inspection during 
regular business hours at the above office in Rm. 2641-South Building, 
14th & Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lee Cliburn, 202-720-2145.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This rule has been determined to be not 
significant for purposes of Executive Order 12866, and has not been 
reviewed by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).
    This proposed rule has been reviewed under Executive Order 12778, 
Civil Justice Reform. It is not intended to have retroactive effect. 
This rule would not preempt any state or local laws, regulations, or 
policies unless they present an irreconcilable conflict with this rule. 
There are no administrative procedures which must be exhausted prior to 
any judicial challenge to the provisions of this rule.
    The Administrator, Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), has 
considered the economic impact of this proposal on small entities 
pursuant to the requirements set forth in the Regulatory Flexibility 
Act (RFA) (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.).
    The purpose of the RFA is to fit regulatory actions to the scale of 
businesses subject to such actions in order that small businesses will 
not be disproportionately burdened. There are about 40,000 cotton 
growers who voluntarily submit their cotton for the classification 
service. The majority of the growers are small businesses under the 
criteria established by the Small Business Administration. The 
Administrator of AMS has certified that this action will not have a 
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities 
as defined in the RFA because: (1) The fee reduction reflects a 
decrease in the cost-per-unit currently borne by those entities 
utilizing the services; (2) the cost reduction will not affect 
competition in the marketplace; and (3) the use of classification 
services is voluntary.
    In compliance with OMB regulations (5 CFR part 1320) which 
implement the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1980 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et 
seq.), the information collection requirements contained in the 
provisions to be amended by this proposed rule have been previously 
approved by OMB and were assigned OMB control number 0581-0009 under 
the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).
    It is anticipated that the proposed changes, if adopted, would be 
made effective July 1, 1996, as provided by the Cotton Statistics and 
Estimates Act.

Fees for Classification Under the Cotton Statistics and Estimates Act 
of 1927

    The user fee charged to cotton producers for High Volume Instrument 
(HVI) classification services under the Cotton Statistics and Estimates 
Act (7 U.S.C. 473a) was $1.60 per bale during the 1995 harvest season 
as determined by using the formula provided in the Uniform Cotton 
Classing Fees Act of 1987, as amended by Public Law 102-237. The fees 
cover salaries, cost of equipment and supplies, and other overhead 
costs, including costs for administration, supervision, development, 
and maintenance of cotton standards.
    This proposed rule establishes the user fee charged to producers 
for HVI classification at $1.50 per bale during the 1996 harvest 
season.
    Public Law 102-237 amended the formula in the Uniform Cotton 
Classing Fees Act of 1987 for establishing the producer's 
classification fee so that the producer's fee is based on the 
prevailing method of classification requested by producers during the 
previous year. HVI classing was the prevailing method of cotton 
classification requested by producers in 1995. Therefore, the 1996 
producer's user fee for classification service is based on the 1995 
base fee for HVI classification.
    The fee was calculated by applying the formula specified in the 
Uniform Cotton Classing Fees Act of 1987, as amended by Public Law 102-
237. The 1995 base fee for HVI classification exclusive of adjustments, 
as provided by the Act, was $2.01 per bale. A 1.4 percent, or three 
cents per bale increase due to the implicit price deflator of the gross 
domestic product added to the $2.01 would result in a 1996 base fee of 
$2.04 per bale. The formula in the Act provides for the use of the 
percentage change in the implicit price deflator of the gross national 
product (as indexed for the most recent 12-month period for which 
statistics are available). However, this has been replaced by the gross 
domestic product by the Department of Commerce as a more appropriate 
measure for the short-term monitoring and analysis of the U.S. economy.
    The number of bales to be classed by the United States Department 
of Agriculture from the 1996 crop is estimated at 19,024,000. The 1996 
base fee was decreased 15 percent based on the estimated number of 
bales to be classed (one percent for every 100,000 bales or portion 
thereof above the base of 12,500,000, limited to a maximum adjustment 
of 15 percent). This percentage factor amounts to a 31 cents 

[[Page 7757]]
per bale reduction and was subtracted from the 1996 base fee of $2.04 
per bale, resulting in a fee of $1.73 per bale.
    Assuming a fee of $1.73 per bale, the projected operating reserve 
would be 36.9 percent. The Act specifies that the Secretary shall not 
establish a fee which, when combined with other sources of revenue, 
will result in a projected operating reserve of more than 25 percent. 
Accordingly, the fee of $1.73 must be reduced by 23 cents per bale, to 
$1.50 per bale, to provide an ending accumulated operating reserve for 
the fiscal year of 25 percent of the projected cost of operating the 
program. This would establish the 1996 season fee at $1.50 per bale.
    Accordingly, Sec. 28.909, paragraph (b) would be revised to reflect 
the reduction in the HVI classification fees.
    As provided for in the Uniform Cotton Classing Fees Act of 1987, as 
amended, a five cent per bale discount would continue to be applied to 
voluntary centralized billing and collecting agents as specified in 
Sec. 28.909 (c).
    Growers or their designated agents would continue to incur no 
additional fees if only one method of receiving classification data was 
requested. The fee for each additional method of receiving 
classification data in Sec. 28.910 (a) would remain at five cents per 
bale, and it would be applicable even if the same method was requested. 
Since the Cotton Division will no longer accept returned diskettes to 
eliminate the possibility of computer virus infection, the cost of 
computer tapes or diskettes not returned will no longer be billed 
separately to the requestor. The fee in Sec. 28.910 (b) for an owner 
receiving classification data from the central database would remain at 
five cents per bale, but a minimum charge of $5.00 for services 
provided per monthly billing period would be assessed. The provisions 
of Sec. 28.910 concerning the fee for new classification memoranda 
issued from the central database for the business convenience of an 
owner without reclassification of the cotton would remain the same.
    The fee for review classification in Sec. 28.911 would be reduced 
from $1.60 per bale to $1.50 per bale.
    The fee for returning samples after classification in Sec. 28.911 
would remain at 40 cents per sample.

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 28

    Administrative practice and procedures, Cotton, Cotton samples, 
Grades, Market news, Reporting and record keeping requirements, 
Standards, Staples, Testing, Warehouses.

    For the reasons set forth in the preamble, 7 CFR Part 28 is 
proposed to be amended as follows:

PART 28--[AMENDED]

    1. The authority citation for Part 28 would be revised to read as 
follows:

    Authority: 7 U.S.C. 471-476.

    2. In section 28.909, paragraph (b) would be revised to read as 
follows:


Sec. 28.909  Costs.

* * * * *
    (b) The cost of High Volume Instrument (HVI) cotton classification 
service to producers is $1.50 per bale.
* * * * *
    3. Section 28.910 would be amended by revising the concluding text 
of paragraph (a) and adding a sentence at the end of paragraph (b) to 
read as follows:


Sec. 28.910  Classification of samples and issuance of classification 
data.

    (a) * * *
    If the issuance of data to growers or to their agents is made by 
more than one method, the fee for each bale issued by each additional 
method shall be five cents. If provided as additional method of data 
transfer, the minimum fee for each tape or diskette issued shall be 
$10.00.
    (b) * * * The minimum charge assessed for services obtained from 
the central database shall be $5.00 per monthly billing period.
* * * * *
    4. In Section 28.911, the last sentence of paragraph (a) would be 
revised to read as follows:


Sec. 28.911  Review classification.

    (a) * * * The fee for review classification is $1.50 per bale.
* * * * *
    Dated: February 23, 1996.
Lon Hatamiya,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 96-4702 Filed 2-28-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-02-P