[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 59 (Friday, March 27, 1998)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 14839-14840]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-8177]


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 Proposed Rules
                                                 Federal Register
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 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.
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  Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 59 / Friday, March 27, 1998 / 
Proposed Rules  

[[Page 14839]]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Agricultural Marketing Service

7 CFR Part 28

[CN-98-004]


Revision of User Fees for 1998 Crop Cotton Classification 
Services to Growers

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA.

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) is proposing to 
reduce user fees for cotton producers for 1998 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 1997 user fee for this classification service was 
$1.40 per bale. This proposal would reduce the fee for the 1998 crop to 
$1.30 per bale. The proposed 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.

DATES: Comments must be received by April 27, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Comments and inquiries should be addressed to, Cotton 
Programs, 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 proposed 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 proposed 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 proposed rule would 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 1997 user 
fee for classification services was $1.40 per bale; the fee for the 
1998 crop would be reduced to $1.30 per bale; the 1998 crop is 
estimated at 15,684,900 bales);
    (2) The cost reduction will not affect competition in the 
marketplace; and
    (3) The use of classification services is voluntary. For the 1997 
crop, 17,949,575 bales were classed out of 18,346,450 bales produced.
    (4) Based on the average price paid to growers for cotton from the 
1996 crop of 69.3 cents per pound, 500 pound bales of cotton are worth 
an average of $346.50 each. The proposed user fee for classification 
services, $1.30 per bale, is less than one percent of the value of an 
average bale of cotton.
    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 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 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).
    It is anticipated that the proposed changes, if adopted, would be 
made effective July 1, 1998, 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 $1.40 per bale during the 1997 harvest season 
as determined by using the formula provided in the Uniform Cotton 
Classing Fees Act of 1987, as amended by Pub. L. 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 proposed rule establishes the user fee charged to producers 
for HVI classification at $1.30 per bale during the 1998 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 1997. Therefore, the 1998 
producer's user fee for classification service is based on the 1997 
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 Pub. L. 102-
237. The 1997 base fee for HVI classification exclusive of adjustments, 
as provided by the Act, was $2.08 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 $2.08 would result in a 1998 base fee of 
$2.12 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

[[Page 14840]]

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 1998 crop is estimated at 15,684,900 bales. The 
1998 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 32 cents per bale 
reduction and was subtracted from the 1998 base fee of $2.12 per bale, 
resulting in a fee of $1.80 per bale.
    With a fee of $1.80 per bale, the projected operating reserve would 
be 46.806 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 $1.80 must be reduced by 50 cents per bale, to 
$1.30 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 1998 season fee at $1.30 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 requesting classification data 
provided on computer punched cards will be charged a fee of 10 cents 
per card to reflect the costs of providing this service. Requests for 
punch card classification data represents only 2.6 percent of the total 
bales classed. This change would be reflected in Sec. 28.910 (a). 
Growers or their designated agents receiving classification data by 
methods other than computer punched cards 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 would remain at five cents per bale, 
and it would be applicable even if the same method was requested. 
However, if computer punched cards were requested, a fee of ten cents 
per card would be charged. The fee in Sec. 28.910 (b) for an owner 
receiving classification data from the central database would remain at 
five cents per bale, and the minimum charge of $5.00 for services 
provided per monthly billing period would 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 would be reduced 
from $1.40 per bale to $1.30 per bale.
    The fee for returning samples after classification in Sec. 28.911 
would remain at 40 cents per sample.
    Finally, the authority citation for Subpart D of Part 28 was 
revised at 61 FR 19512. This action would correct that revision by 
specifying Subpart D rather than a reference to Part 28 in its 
entirety.
    A thirty-day comment period is provided for public comments. This 
period is appropriate because it is anticipated that the proposed 
changes, if adopted, would be made effective July 1, 1998, as provided 
by the Cotton Statistics and Estimates Act.

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 28

    Administrative practice and procedure, 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 
proposed to be amended as follows:

PART 28--[AMENDED]

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

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

    2. In Sec. 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 $1.30 per bale.
* * * * *
    3. In Sec. 28.910, paragraph (a) would be revised to read as 
follows:


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

    (a) (1) The samples submitted as provided in the subpart shall be 
classified by employees of the Division and classification memoranda 
showing the official quality determination of each sample according to 
the official cotton standards of the United States shall be issued by 
any one of the following methods at no additional charge:
    (i) Computer diskettes,
    (ii) Computer tapes, or
    (iii) Telecommunications, with all long distance telephone line 
charges paid by the receiver of data.
    (2) When an additional copy of the classification memorandum is 
issued by any method listed in (a)(1), there will be a charge of five 
cents per bale. If provided as an additional method of data transfer, 
the minimum fee for each tape or diskette issued shall be $10.00.
    (3) Upon request, computer punch cards may be issued. The fee for 
this service shall be 10 cents per card.
* * * * *
    4. In Sec. 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 $1.30 per bale.
* * * * *
    Dated: March 24, 1998.
Enrique E. Figueroa,
Administrator, Agricultural Marketing Service.
[FR Doc. 98-8177 Filed 3-26-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-02-P