[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 86 (Thursday, May 2, 1996)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 19511-19512]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-10989]



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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: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) is reducing 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. The 1995 user 
fee for the classification service was $1.60 per bale. This final rule 
will reduce the fee for the 1996 crop to $1.50 per bale. The reduced 
fee is due to increased efficiency in classing operations, and it is 
sufficient to recover the costs of providing classification services, 
including costs for administration, supervision, and development and 
maintenance of standards.

EFFECTIVE DATE: July 1, 1996.

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

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: A proposed rule detailing the revisions was 
published in the Federal Register on February 29, 1996, (61 FR 7756). A 
30-day comment period was provided for interested persons to respond to 
the proposed rule; no comments were received.
    This final rule has been determined to be not significant for 
purposes of Executive Order 12866, and therefore it has not been 
reviewed by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).
    This final 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 final rule 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) (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), 
the information collection requirements contained in the provisions 
amended by this final rule have been previously approved by OMB and 
were assigned OMB control number 0581-0009.
    The changes will 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 final 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

[[Page 19512]]

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 results 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 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 establishes the 1996 season fee at $1.50 per bale.
    Accordingly, Sec. 28.909, paragraph (b) is 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 will continue to be applied to 
voluntary centralized billing and collecting agents as specified in 
Sec. 28.909(c).
    Growers or their designated agents will continue to incur no 
additional fees if only one method of receiving classification data is 
requested. The fee for each additional method of receiving 
classification data in Sec. 28.910(a) will remain at five cents per 
bale, and it will 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 will remain at 
five cents per bale, but a minimum charge of $5.00 for services 
provided per monthly billing period will 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 will remain the same.
    The fee for review classification in Sec. 28.911 will be reduced 
from $1.60 per bale to $1.50 per bale.
    The fee for returning samples after classification in Sec. 28.911 
will 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 recordkeeping requirements, 
Standards, Staples, Testing, Warehouses.

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

PART 28--[AMENDED]

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

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

    2. In Sec. 28.909, paragraph (b) is 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 is amended by revising the undesignated text 
immediately following paragraph (a)(4) 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) * * *
    (4) ***
    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 Sec. 28.911, the last sentence of paragraph (a) is revised to 
read as follows:


Sec. 28.911   Review classification.

    (a) * * * The fee for review classification is $1.50 per bale.
* * * * *
    Dated: April 29, 1996.
Lon Hatamiya,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 96-10989 Filed 5-1-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-02-P