[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 91 (Monday, May 12, 1997)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 25799-25800]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-12345]



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 Rules and Regulations
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  Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 91 / Monday, May 12, 1997 / Rules and 
Regulations  

[[Page 25799]]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Agricultural Marketing Service

7 CFR Part 28

[CN-97-001]


Revision of User Fees for 1997 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 1997 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 1996 user 
fee for this classification service was $1.50 per bale. This rule would 
reduce the fee for the 1997 crop to $1.40 per bale. The reduction in 
fees resulted from increased efficiency in classing operations. The fee 
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, 1997.

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

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: A proposed rule detailing the revisions was 
published in the Federal Register on March 17, 1997, (62 FR 12577). 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 it has not been reviewed by the 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB).
    This final rule has been reviewed under Executive Order 12988, 
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.). It has been determined that the 
implementation of this rule will not have a significant economic impact 
on a substantial number of small businesses.
    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 an estimated 40,000 
cotton growers in the U.S. who voluntarily use the AMS cotton classing 
services annually, and the majority of these cotton growers are small 
businesses under the criteria established by the Small Business 
Administration (13 CFR 121.601). 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 (the 1996 user 
fee for classification services was $1.50 per bale; the fee for the 
1997 crop will be reduced to $1.40 per bale; the 1997 crop is estimated 
at 17,587,000 bales);
    (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.).
    The changes will be made effective July 1, 1997, 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 $1.50 per bale during the 1996 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, costs of equipment and supplies, and other overhead 
costs, including costs for administration, supervision, and development 
and maintenance of cotton standards.
    This rule establishes the user fee charged to producers for HVI 
classification at $1.40 per bale during the 1997 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 1996. Therefore, the 1997 
producer's user fee for classification service is based on the 1996 
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 1996 base fee for HVI classification exclusive of adjustments, 
as provided by the Act, was $2.04 per bale. A two percent, or four 
cents per bale increase due to the implicit price deflator of the gross 
domestic product added to the $2.04 results in a 1997 base fee of $2.08 
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 1997 crop is

[[Page 25800]]

estimated at 17,587,000. The 1997 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 
1997 base fee of $2.08 per bale, resulting in a fee of $1.77 per bale.
    With a fee of $1.77 per bale, the projected operating reserve would 
be 41.93 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 $1.77 was reduced by 37 cents per bale, to 
$1.40 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 1997 season fee at $1.40 per bale.
    Accordingly, Sec. 28.909, paragraph (b) will 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 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 will remain at five cents per bale, 
and it will be applied even if the same method is requested. The fee in 
Sec. 28.910(b) for an owner receiving classification data from the 
central database will remain at five cents per bale, and the minimum 
charge of $5.00 for services provided per monthly billing period will 
remain the same. The provisions of Sec. 28.910(c) 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 $1.50 per bale to $1.40 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 continues 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 $1.40 per bale.
* * * * *
    3. 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 $1.40 per bale.
* * * * *
    Dated: May 6, 1997.
Lon Hatamiya,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 97-12345 Filed 5-9-97; 8:45 am]
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