[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 109 (Tuesday, June 6, 2000)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 35807-35808]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-14114]



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 Rules and Regulations
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  Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 109 / Tuesday, June 6, 2000 / Rules 
and Regulations  

[[Page 35807]]



DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Agricultural Marketing Service

7 CFR Part 28

[Docket No. CN-99-003]
RIN 0581-AB57


Revision of User Fees for 2000 Crop Cotton Classification 
Services to Growers

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA.

ACTION: Final rule.

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

SUMMARY: The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) will maintain user 
fees for cotton producers for 2000 crop cotton classification services 
under the Cotton Statistics and Estimates Act at the same level as in 
1999. This is in accordance with the formula provided in the Uniform 
Cotton Classing Fees Act of 1987. The 1999 user fee for this 
classification service was $1.35 per bale. This final rule would 
maintain the fee for the 2000 crop at $1.35 per bale. The fee and the 
existing reserve are sufficient to cover the costs of providing 
classification services, including costs for administration and 
supervision.

EFFECTIVE DATE: July 1, 2000.

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

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: A proposed rule detailing the revisions was 
published in the Federal Register on March 8, 2000 (65 FR 12140). A 30-
day comment period was provided for interested persons to respond to 
the proposed rule. No comments were received, and no changes have been 
made in the provisions of the final rule.
    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.

Regulatory Flexibility Act

    Pursuant to requirements set forth in the Regulatory Flexibility 
Act (RFA) (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) AMS has considered the economic impact 
of this action on small entities and has determined that its 
implementation 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 35,000 
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 121.201). Continuing the user fee at the 1999 
crop level will not significantly affect small businesses as defined 
under the RFA because:
    (1) The fee represents a very small portion of the cost-per-unit 
currently borne by those entities utilizing the services (the 1999 user 
fee for classification services was $1.35 per bale; the fee for the 
2000 crop will be maintained at $1.35 per bale; the 2000 crop is 
estimated at 17,945,000 bales);
    (2) The fee for services will not affect competition in the 
marketplace; and
    (3) The use of classification services is voluntary. For the 1999 
crop, 16,409,650 bales were produced, and virtually all of them were 
submitted by growers for the classification service.
    (4) Based on the average price paid to growers for cotton from the 
1998 crop of 65.3 cents per pound, 500 pound bales of cotton are worth 
an average of $326.50 each. The user fee for classification services, 
$1.35 per bale, is less than one percent of the value of an average 
bale of cotton.

Paperwork Reduction Act

    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.).
    The changes will be made effective July 1, 2000, 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 $1.35 per bale during the 1999 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, and supervision.
    This final rule establishes the user fee charged to producers for 
HVI classification at $1.35 per bale during the 2000 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 1999. Therefore, the 2000 
producer's user fee for classification service is based on the 1999 
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 1999 base fee for HVI classification exclusive of adjustments, 
as provided by the Act, was $2.14 per bale. An increase of one and 
thirty-nine hundredths percent, or three cents per bale increase due to 
the implicit price deflator of the gross domestic product added to the 
$2.14, would result in a 2000 base fee of $2.17 per bale. The formula 
in the Act provides for the use of the percentage

[[Page 35808]]

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 2000 crop is estimated at 17,945,000 bales. The 
2000 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 33 cents per bale 
reduction and was subtracted from the 2000 base fee of $2.17 per bale, 
resulting in a fee of $1.84 per bale.
    With a fee of $1.84 per bale, the projected operating reserve would 
be 49.77 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 $1.84 must be reduced by 49 cents per bale, to 
$1.35 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 will establish the 2000 season fee at $1.35 per bale.
    Accordingly, Sec. 28.909, paragraph (b) will reflect the 
continuation of the HVI classification fee at $1.35 per bale.
    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 continue to be charged the fee 
of 10 cents per card in Sec. 28.910(a) to reflect the costs of 
providing this service. Requests for punch card classification data 
represented less than 1.0 percent of the total bales classed from the 
1999 crop, down from 2.6 percent in 1997. 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 will be maintained 
at $1.35 per bale.
    The fee for returning samples after classification in Sec. 28.911 
will remain at 40 cents per sample.
    Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553, it is determined that good cause exists 
for not postponing the effective date of this rule until 30 days after 
publication in the Federal Register because: (1) the cotton crop year 
begins July 1, 2000, (2) a uniform fee for the entire crop is mandated 
by the Cotton Statistics and Estimates Act, and (3) a 30 day comment 
period was provided for in the proposed rule and no comments were 
received.

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 amended 
as follows:

PART 28--[AMENDED]

    1. The authority citation for 7 CFR part 28, Subpart D, 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 $1.35 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 $1.35 per bale.
* * * * *

    Dated: May 31, 2000.
Kenneth C. Clayton,
Acting Administrator, Agricultural Marketing Service.
[FR Doc. 00-14114 Filed 6-1-00; 4:36 pm]
BILLING CODE 3410-02-P