[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 104 (Wednesday, May 30, 2001)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 29215-29216]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-13562]



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 Rules and Regulations
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  Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 104 / Wednesday, May 30, 2001 / Rules 
and Regulations  

[[Page 29215]]



DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Agricultural Marketing Service

7 CFR Part 28

[CN-00-010]
RIN 0581-AB57


Revision of User Fees for 2001 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 2001 crop cotton classification services 
under the Cotton Statistics and Estimates Act at the same level as in 
2000. This is in accordance with the formula provided in the Uniform 
Cotton Classing Fees Act of 1987. The 2000 user fee for this 
classification service was $1.35 per bale. This final rule would 
maintain the fee for the 2001 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, 2001.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Darryl Earnest, Cotton Program, 202-
720-2145.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: A proposed rule detailing the revisions was 
published in the Federal Register on April 23, 2001. (66 FR 20408). A 
15-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 that 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 Sec. 121.201). Continuing the user fee at the 
2000 crop level will not significantly affect small businesses as 
defined in 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 2000 user 
fee for classification services was $1.35 per bale; the fee for the 
2001 crop will be maintained at $1.35 per bale; the 2001 crop is 
estimated at 18,337,850 bales);
    (2) The fee for services will not affect competition in the 
marketplace; and
    (3) The use of classification services is voluntary. For the 2000 
crop, 17,219,500 bales were produced; and, virtually all of them were 
voluntarily submitted by growers for the classification service.
    (4) Based on the average price paid to growers for cotton from the 
1999 crop of 45 cents per pound, 500 pound bales of cotton are worth an 
average of $225 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 final 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.).
    These changes will be made effective July 1, 2001, 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 2000 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 2001 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 2000. Therefore, the 2001 
producer's user fee for classification service is based on the 2000 
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 2000 base fee for HVI classification exclusive of adjustments, 
as provided by the Act, was $2.17 per bale. An increase of 2.26 
percent, or 5 cents per bale increase due to the implicit price 
deflator of the gross domestic product added to the $2.17 would result 
in a 2001 base fee of $2.22 per bale. The formula in the Act provides 
for the use of the percentage change in the implicit

[[Page 29216]]

price deflator of the gross national product (as indexed for the most 
recent 12-month period for which statistics are available). However, 
gross national product 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 2001 crop is estimated at 18,337,850 bales. The 2001 base fee was 
decreased 15 percent based on the estimated number of bales to be 
classed (1 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 2001 base fee of $2.22 per bale, resulting in a fee 
of $1.89 per bale.
    With a fee of $1.89 per bale, the projected operating reserve would 
be 51.56 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 $1.89 must be reduced by 54 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 would establish the 2001 season fee at $1.35 per bale.
    Accordingly, Sec. 28.909, paragraph (b) would 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 5 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 2000 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 5 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 10 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 
5 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.

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 28

    Administrative practice and procedure, 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 amended 
as follows:

PART 28--COTTON CLASSING TESTING STANDARDS

    1. The authority citation for 7 CFR Part 28, Subpart D--Cotton 
Classification and Market News Services for Producers, 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 23, 2001.
Kenneth C. Clayton,
Acting Administrator, Agricultural Marketing Service.
[FR Doc. 01-13562 Filed 5-25-01; 10:50 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-02-U