[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 7 (Friday, January 10, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1821-1823]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-00372]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Food Safety and Inspection Service

[Docket Number FSIS-2013-0051]
RIN 0583-AD40


2014 Rate Changes for the Basetime, Overtime, Holiday, and 
Laboratory Services Rates

AGENCY: Food Safety and Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is announcing 
the 2014 rates it will charge meat and poultry establishments, egg 
products plants, and importers and exporters for providing voluntary, 
overtime, and holiday inspection and identification, certification, and 
laboratory services. The 2014 basetime, overtime, holiday, and 
laboratory services rates will be applied on the first FSIS pay period 
approximately 30 days after the publication of this notice, which 
begins on February 9, 2014.

DATES: FSIS will charge the rates announced in this notice beginning 
February 9, 2014.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information contact 
Michael Toner, Director, Budget Division, Office of Management, FSIS, 
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Room 2159, South Building, 1400 
Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20250-3700; Telephone: (202) 
690-8398, Fax: (202) 690-4155.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On April 12, 2011, FSIS published a final rule amending its 
regulations to establish formulas for calculating the rates it charges 
meat and poultry establishments, egg products plants, and importers and 
exporters for providing voluntary, overtime, and holiday inspection and 
identification, certification, and laboratory services (76 FR 20220).
    In the final rule, FSIS stated that it would use the formulas to 
calculate the annual rates, publish the rates in Federal Register 
notices prior to the start of each calendar year, and apply the rates 
on the first FSIS pay period at the beginning of the calendar year.
    This notice provides the 2014 rates, which will be applied starting 
on February 9, 2014.

2014 Rates and Calculations

    The following table lists the 2014 Rates per hour, per employee, by 
type of service:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                   2014 Rate (estimates
                    Service                         rounded to reflect
                                                    billable quarters)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Basetime.......................................                   $55.16
Overtime.......................................                    69.56
Holiday........................................                    84.00
Laboratory.....................................                    68.79
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The regulations state that FSIS will calculate the rates using 
formulas that include the Office of Field Operations (OFO) and Office 
of International Affairs (OIA) inspection program personnel's previous 
fiscal year's regular direct pay and regular hours (9 CFR 391.2, 391.3, 
391.4, 590.126, 590.128, 592.510, 592.520, and 592.530). In 2013, an 
Agency reorganization eliminated the OIA program office and transferred 
all of its inspection program personnel to OFO. The calculations below 
include the portion of the previous fiscal year's OIA inspection 
program personnel's pay and hours but are identified in the 
calculations as ``OFO inspection program personnel's'' pay and hours.
    FSIS determined the 2014 rates using the following calculations:
    Basetime Rate = The quotient of dividing the Office of Field 
Operations (OFO) inspection program personnel's previous fiscal year's 
regular direct pay by the previous fiscal year's regular hours, plus 
the quotient multiplied by the calendar year's percentage of cost of 
living increase, plus the benefits rate, plus the travel and operating 
rate, plus the overhead rate, plus the allowance for bad debt rate.
    The calculation for the 2014 basetime rate per hour per program 
employee is:

[FY 2013 OFO Regular Direct Pay divided by the previous fiscal year's 
Regular Hours ($463,542,338/16,407,854)] = $28.25 + ($28.25 * 2.0% 
(calendar year 2014 Cost of Living Increase)) = $28.82 + $9.08 
(benefits rate) + $.66 (travel and operating rate) + $16.61 (overhead 
rate) + $.02 (bad debt allowance rate) = $55.18(rounded to $55.16).\1\
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    \1\ FSIS can bill basetime, overtime, and holiday rates on the 
quarter hour. Accordingly, the 2014 basetime and overtime rates were 
rounded down so that the rates can equally be divided by 4 (to 2 
decimal places).
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    Overtime Rate = The quotient of dividing the Office of Field 
Operations (OFO) inspection program personnel's previous fiscal year's 
regular direct pay by the previous fiscal year's regular hours, plus 
that quotient multiplied by the calendar year's percentage of cost of 
living increase, multiplied by 1.5 (for overtime), plus the benefits 
rate, plus the travel and operating rate, plus the overhead rate, plus 
the allowance for bad debt rate.

[[Page 1822]]

    The calculation for the 2014 overtime rate per hour per program 
employee is:

[FY 2013 OFO Regular Direct Pay divided by previous fiscal year's 
Regular Hours ($463,542,338/16,407,854)] = $28.25 + ($28.25 * 2.0% 
(calendar year 2014 Cost of Living Increase)) = $28.82 * 1.5 = $43.22 + 
$9.08 (benefits rate) + $.66 (travel and operating rate) + $16.61 
(overhead rate) + $.02 (bad debt allowance rate) = $69.59 (rounded to 
$69.56).\2\
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    \2\ Ibid.

    Holiday Rate = The quotient of dividing the Office of Field 
Operations (OFO) inspection program personnel's previous fiscal year's 
regular direct pay by the previous fiscal year's regular hours, plus 
that quotient multiplied by the calendar year's percentage of cost of 
living increase, multiplied by 2 (for holiday pay), plus the benefits 
rate, plus the travel and operating rate, plus the overhead rate, plus 
the allowance for bad debt rate.
    The calculation for the 2014 holiday rate per hour per program 
employee calculation is:

[FY 2013 OFO Regular Direct Pay divided by Regular Hours ($463,542,338/
16,407,854)] = $28.25 + ($28.25 * 2.0% (calendar year 2014 Cost of 
Living Increase)) = $28.82 * 2 = $57.64 + $9.08 (benefits rate) + $.66 
(travel and operating rate) + $16.61 (overhead rate) + $.02 (bad debt 
allowance rate) = $84.00.

    Laboratory Services Rate = The quotient of dividing the Office of 
Public Health Science (OPHS) previous fiscal year's regular direct pay 
by the OPHS previous fiscal year's regular hours, plus the quotient 
multiplied by the calendar year's percentage cost of living increase, 
plus the benefits rate, plus the travel and operating rate, plus the 
overhead rate, plus the allowance for bad debt rate.
    The calculation for the 2014 laboratory services rate per hour per 
program employee is:

[FY 2013 OPHS Regular Direct Pay/OPHS Regular hours ($22,997,979/
552,947)] = $41.59 + ($41.59 * 2.0% (calendar year 2014 Cost of Living 
Increase)) = $42.42 + $9.08 (benefits rate) + $.66 (travel and 
operating rate) + $16.61 (overhead rate) + $.02 (bad debt allowance 
rate) = $68.79.

Calculations for the Benefits, Travel and Operating, Overhead, and 
Allowance for Bad Debt Rates

    These rates are components of the basetime, overtime, holiday, and 
laboratory services rates formulas.
    Benefits Rate: The quotient of dividing the previous fiscal year's 
direct benefits costs by the previous fiscal year's total hours 
(regular, overtime, and holiday), plus that quotient multiplied by the 
calendar year's percentage cost of living increase. Some examples of 
direct benefits are health insurance, retirement, life insurance, and 
Thrift Savings Plan basic and matching contributions.
    The calculation for the 2014 benefits rate per hour per program 
employee is:

[FY 2013 Direct Benefits/ (Total Regular hours + Total Overtime hours + 
Total Holiday hours) ($172,028,218/19,333,483)] = $8.90 + ($8.90 * 2.0% 
(calendar year 2014 Cost of Living Increase) = $9.08.
    Travel and Operating Rate: The quotient of dividing the previous 
fiscal year's total direct travel and operating costs by the previous 
fiscal year's total hours (regular, overtime, and holiday), plus that 
quotient multiplied by the calendar year's percentage of inflation.
    The calculation for the 2014 travel and operating rate per hour per 
program employee is:

[FY 2013 Total Direct Travel and Operating Costs/(Total Regular hours + 
Total Overtime hours + Total Holiday hours) ($12,600,122/19,333,483)] = 
$.65 + ($.65 * 1.7% (2014 Inflation) = $.66.
    Overhead Rate: The quotient of dividing the previous fiscal year's 
indirect costs plus the previous fiscal year's information technology 
(IT) costs in the Public Health Data Communication Infrastructure 
System Fund plus the previous fiscal year's Office of Management 
Program cost in the Reimbursable and Voluntary Funds plus the provision 
for the operating balance less any Greenbook costs (i.e., costs of USDA 
support services prorated to the service component for which fees are 
charged) that are not related to food inspection by the previous fiscal 
year's total hours (regular, overtime, and holiday) worked across all 
funds, plus the quotient multiplied by the calendar year's percentage 
of inflation.
    The calculation for the 2014 overhead rate per hour per program 
employee is:

[FY 2013 Total Overhead/(Total Regular hours + Total Overtime hours + 
Total Holiday hours) ($315,684,199.17/19,333,483)] = $16.33 + ($16.33 * 
1.7% (2014 Inflation) = $16.61.
    Allowance for Bad Debt Rate = Previous fiscal year's total 
allowance for bad debt (for example, debt owed that is not paid in full 
by plants and establishments that declare bankruptcy) divided by 
previous fiscal year's total hours (regular, overtime, and holiday) 
worked.
    The 2014 calculation for bad debt rate per hour per program 
employee is:

[FY 2013 Total Bad Debt/(Total Regular hours + Total Overtime hours + 
Total Holiday hours) = ($288,994/19,333,483)] = $.02.

Additional Public Notification

    FSIS will announce this notice online through the FSIS Web page 
located at http://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/topics/regulations/federal-register/federal-register-notices. FSIS will also make copies 
of this Federal Register publication available through the FSIS 
Constituent Update, which is used to provide information regarding FSIS 
policies, procedures, regulations, Federal Register notices, FSIS 
public meetings, and other types of information that could affect or 
would be of interest to constituents and stakeholders. The Constituent 
Update is communicated via Listserv, a free electronic mail 
subscription service for industry, trade groups, consumer interest 
groups, health professionals, and other individuals who have asked to 
be included. The Update is also available on the FSIS Web page. In 
addition, FSIS offers an electronic mail subscription service which 
provides automatic and customized access to selected food safety news 
and information. This service is available at http://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/programs-and-services/email-subscription-service. 
Options range from recalls to export information to regulations, 
directives and notices. Customers can add or delete subscriptions 
themselves, and have the option to password protect their accounts.

USDA Nondiscrimination Statement

    The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination 
in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, 
national origin, gender, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, 
sexual orientation, and marital or family status. (Not all prohibited 
bases apply to all programs.)
    Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for 
communication of program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, 
etc.) should contact USDA's Target Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and 
TTY).

[[Page 1823]]

    To file a written complaint of discrimination, write USDA, Office 
of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue 
SW., Washington, DC 20250-9410 or call (202) 720-5964 (voice and TTY). 
USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

    Dated: January 3, 2014.
Alfred V. Almanza,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2014-00372 Filed 1-8-14; 4:15 pm]
BILLING CODE 3410-DM-P