[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 46 (Thursday, March 7, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16521-16523]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-04838]


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 Notices
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 This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains documents other than rules 
 or proposed rules that are applicable to the public. Notices of hearings 
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  Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 46 / Thursday, March 7, 2024 / 
Notices  

[[Page 16521]]



DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Agricultural Marketing Service

[Doc. No. AMS-FGIS-23-0083]


2024 Rates for Grain Inspection Services Under the United States 
Grain Standards Act

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice.

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

SUMMARY: The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) is announcing the 
2024 rates it will charge for official inspection and weighing 
services, supervision of official inspection and weighing services, and 
miscellaneous fees for other services performed under the United States 
Grain Standards Act, as amended. This action publishes the annual 
review of fees and the resulting fees.

DATES: Applicable April 1, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Prospective customers can find the fee scheduled posted on 
the Agency's public website: https://www.ams.usda.gov/about-ams/fgis-program-directives.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Denise Ruggles, FGIS Executive Program 
Analyst, USDA AMS; Telephone: 816-702-3897, or Email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The United States Grain Standards Act 
(USGSA) provides the Secretary of Agriculture with the authority to 
charge and collect reasonable fees to cover the costs of performing 
official services, as well as those associated with managing the 
program. The grain inspection regulations require that the Federal 
Grain Inspection Service (FGIS) conducts annual fee reviews of national 
and local administrative costs related to grain volume/tonnage 
inspected (7 CFR 800.71).

Overview of Schedule A (Official Inspection and Weighing Services) Fee 
Calculations

    The USGSA and its implementing regulations (7 CFR 800.71(b)(3)(i) 
and (ii)) require FGIS to maintain an operating reserve of not less 
than 3 and not more than 6 months' expenses. To comply with this 
requirement, FGIS conducts an annual review of its tonnage fees and 
operating reserves. Tonnage fees are calculated according to 7 CFR 
800.71(b)(1). After calculating the tonnage fees, FGIS reviews the 
amount of funds in the operating reserve at the end of the fiscal year 
(FY) (FY2023 in this case) to ensure that it has 4\1/2\ months of 
operating expenses. FGIS uses 4.5 months of expenses as its target 
amount because section 800.71(b)(3) of the regulations specifies 4.5 
months as the trigger for whether FGIS should make adjustments to its 
fees. If the operating reserve has more--or less--than 4\1/2\ months of 
operating expenses, then FGIS must adjust all Schedule A fees. For each 
$1,000,000, rounded down, that the operating reserve varies from the 
target of 4\1/2\ months, FGIS will adjust all Schedule A fees by 2 
percent. If the operating reserve exceeds the target, all Schedule A 
fees will be reduced. If the operating reserve does not meet the 
target, all Schedule A fees will be increased. The maximum annual 
increase or decrease in fees is 5 percent (7 CFR 800.71(b)(3)(i)-(ii)).
    Tonnage fees for the 5-year rolling average tonnage were calculated 
on the previous 5 fiscal years (2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023). 
Tonnage fees consist of the national tonnage fee and local tonnage fee 
and are calculated and rounded to the nearest $0.001 per metric ton.
    Calculation of national tonnage fee. The national tonnage fee is 
the national program administrative costs for the previous fiscal year 
divided by the average yearly tons of export grain officially inspected 
and/or weighed by delegated States and designated agencies, excluding 
land carrier shipments to Canada and Mexico, and outbound grain 
officially inspected and/or weighed by FGIS during the previous 5 
fiscal years.
    The FY2024 national tonnage fee, prior to the operating reserve 
review, is $0.054 per metric ton. The calculation of this fee is based 
on FY2023 national administrative costs of $6,250,062, divided by the 
5-year rolling tonnage average of 114,983,338 metric tons.

                   Table 1--National Tonnage Inspected
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                       Fiscal year                          Metric tons
------------------------------------------------------------------------
2019....................................................     107,896,235
2020....................................................     110,090,771
2021....................................................     136,574,792
2022....................................................     123,745,530
2023....................................................      96,609,360
5-year Rolling Average..................................     114,983,338
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Calculation of local tonnage fee. The local tonnage fee is the 
field office administrative costs for the previous fiscal year divided 
by the average yearly tons of outbound grain officially inspected and/
or weighed by FGIS field offices during the previous 5 fiscal years.

                                                    Table 2--Local Tonnage Inspected by Field Office
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                                                          5-year rolling
                      Field office                            FY2019          FY2020          FY2021          FY2022          FY2023          average
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
New Orleans.............................................      57,807,378      59,768,303      72,482,289      68,880,711      56,312,940      63,050,324
League City.............................................       7,939,994       9,318,595      12,877,525       8,335,121       5,824,829       8,859,213
Pacific Northwest.......................................       2,530,648       3,331,672       4,136,482       2,720,001       1,754,725       2,894,706
Toledo..................................................       1,597,584         948,840       1,154,856       1,191,938         790,400       1,136,724
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


[[Page 16522]]

    The local field office administrative costs for FY2023 and the 
FY2024 calculated local field office tonnage fee, prior to the 
operating reserve review, are as follows:

 Table 3--Local Administrative Costs and Calculated Local Tonnage Fee by
                              Field Office
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                           FY2023 local    Calculated FY
              Field office                administrative    2024 local
                                               costs        tonnage fee
------------------------------------------------------------------------
New Orleans.............................        $715,554          $0.011
League City.............................         672,847           0.076
Pacific Northwest.......................         374,859           0.129
Toledo..................................         167,053           0.147
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Operating reserve. In order to maintain an operating reserve that 
is not less than 3 and not more than 6 months of operating expenses, 
FGIS reviewed the value of the operating reserve at the end of FY2023 
to ensure that an operating reserve equivalent to 4\1/2\ months of 
operating expenses is maintained.
    The program operating reserve at the end of FY2023 was ($504,270), 
with a monthly operating expense of $2,645,846. The target of 4.5 
months of operating reserve is $11,906,307. Therefore, the operating 
reserve is $12,410,578 below the 4.5 months target level. Under the 
regulations, for each $1,000,000, rounded down, below the target level, 
all Schedule A fees must be increased by 2 percent. The operating 
reserve is $12.4 million below the target level, indicating a larger 
increase in fees would be required to fully restore the operating 
reserve. However, section 800.71(b)(3)(i) limits annual fee changes to 
5 percent. which will not increase the operating reserve to the minimum 
statutory amount of 3 times the monthly operating expenses. In addition 
to this fee adjustment, and pursuant to section 800.71(c) of the 
regulations and section 7(j)(4) of the USGSA, FGIS is reviewing all 
fees to ensure they reflect the true costs of providing and supervising 
official service.
    As described in this notice, FGIS is increasing all the 2023 
Schedule A fees for service in Schedule A in Sec.  800.71(a)(1) by 5 
percent for FY2024, including calculated FY2024 national and local 
tonnage fees. All Schedule A fees for service are rounded to the 
nearest $0.10, except for fees based on tonnage or hundredweight. 
Schedule A fees will be outlined in FGIS Directive 9180.74 and 
published on the agency's public website. For example, national and 
local tonnage fees are adjusted as follows:

                 Table 4--National Tonnage Fee With Operating Reserve Adjustment and FY2023 Fee
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                    Calculated
                Fee description                      FY2024 calculation with      FY2024 tonnage  FY2023 tonnage
                                                  operating reserve adjustment          fee             fee
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
National (Delegated States/Designated           $0.054 plus 5% increase ($0.003)          $0.057          $0.033
 Agencies).                                      equals $0.057.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


               Table 5--Field Office Tonnage Fee With Operating Reserve Adjustment and FY2023 Fee
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                    Calculated
                                                     FY2024 calculation with      FY2024 tonnage  FY2023 tonnage
                Fee description                   operating reserve adjustment     fee (national        fee
                                                                                     + local)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
New Orleans...................................  local fee $0.011 plus 5%                  $0.069          $0.055
                                                 increase ($0.001) equals $0.012.
League City...................................  local fee $0.076 plus 5%                   0.137           0.108
                                                 increase ($0.004) equals $0.080.
Pacific Northwest.............................  local fee $0.129 plus 5%                   0.192           0.158
                                                 increase ($0.006) equals $0.135.
Toledo........................................  local fee $0.147 plus 5%                   0.211           0.310
                                                 increase ($0.007) equals $0.154.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    All Schedule A fees for service are rounded to the nearest $0.10, 
except for fees based on tonnage or hundredweight. Schedule A fees will 
be outlined in FGIS Directive 9180.74 and published on the agency's 
public website.

Overview of Schedule B Fees (Fees for Supervision of Official 
Inspection and Weighing Services Performed by Delegated States and 
Designated Agencies in the United States)

    FGIS calculates the supervision tonnage fee using the prior year's 
actual costs and the 5-year average tonnage of domestic U.S. grain 
shipments inspected, weighed, or both, including land carrier shipments 
to Canada and Mexico.
    Operating reserve adjustment. In order to maintain an operating 
reserve of not less than 3 and not more than 6 months, FGIS reviewed 
the value of the operating reserve at the end of FY2023 to ensure that 
an operating reserve of 6 months is maintained.

[[Page 16523]]

    The operating reserve adjustment is the difference between FY2023 
ending reserves and the operating reserve threshold, which is 
equivalent to 6 months of supervisory costs. FY2023 supervision costs 
were $1,186,689. The operating reserve threshold for FY2024 is 
calculated by dividing FY2023 supervision costs by 2 ($1,186,689/2 = 
$593,345). The FY2023 operating reserve ending balance ($295,535) is 
less than the operating reserve threshold ($593,345) by $297,810. 
Therefore, the operating reserve adjustment for calendar year 2024 is 
$297,810.
    Supervision tonnage fee. FGIS adds the total prior year supervision 
costs and the operating reserve adjustment, then divides the result by 
the previous 5-year average tonnage. If the calculated fee is zero or a 
negative value, FGIS will suspend collection of supervision tonnage 
fees for the next calendar year.
    The supervision tonnage fee for calendar year 2024 is $0.007 per 
ton. The calculation, based on FY2023 supervision costs of $1,186,689, 
is $1,186,689 plus the operating reserve adjustment of $297,810, which 
equals $1,484,499, divided by a 5-year average tonnage of 219,219,620, 
which equals $0.007 per ton.

                       Table 6--Tonnage Supervised
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                       Fiscal year                          Metric tons
------------------------------------------------------------------------
2019....................................................     206,693,881
2020....................................................     237,649,430
2021....................................................     232,738,700
2022....................................................     225,570,903
2023....................................................     193,445,187
5-year Rolling Average..................................     219,219,620
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Therefore, for 2024, FGIS will assess a supervision tonnage fee of 
$0.007 per ton on domestic shipments officially inspected and/or 
weighed, including land carrier shipments to Canada and Mexico, 
performed by delegated States and/or designated agencies on or after 
April 1, 2024. The Schedule B fee will be published in FGIS Directive 
9180.74 and on the agency's public website.

7 CFR 800.71(d) Miscellaneous Fees for Other Services Calculations

    Registration certificates and renewals. FGIS calculates the 
application fee by multiplying the Schedule A non-contract hourly rate 
(Table 1 in Sec.  800.71(a)) by a quantity of five. The resulting fee 
is expected to cover FGIS personnel costs to review applications, fee 
publication expenses, and administrative expenses. The Schedule A non-
contract hourly rate is $73. Thus, the application fee for 2024 will be 
$73 times 5, or $365. The fee will be published on the agency's public 
website after Federal Register publication.
    Designation amendments. FGIS calculates the rate using the Federal 
Register publication rate for three columns, plus one hour of 
noncontract hourly rate from Sec.  800.71(a) Table 1 of Schedule A. The 
fee covers FGIS personnel costs, administrative expenses, and costs for 
publishing notices regarding the designation of official service 
providers in the Federal Register. The Federal Register publication 
rate is $151 per column, and the Schedule A non-contract hourly rate is 
$73. FGIS calculates the fee will be $526 for calendar year 2024. The 
fee will be published on the agency's public website after Federal 
Register publication.

    Authority: 7 U.S.C. 71-87k.

Melissa Bailey,
Associate Administrator, Agricultural Marketing Service.
[FR Doc. 2024-04838 Filed 3-6-24; 8:45 am]
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