[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 91 (Monday, May 12, 1997)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 25799-25800]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-12345]
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Rules and Regulations
Federal Register
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This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains regulatory documents
having general applicability and legal effect, most of which are keyed
to and codified in the Code of Federal Regulations, which is published
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The Code of Federal Regulations is sold by the Superintendent of Documents.
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Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 91 / Monday, May 12, 1997 / Rules and
Regulations
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Agricultural Marketing Service
7 CFR Part 28
[CN-97-001]
Revision of User Fees for 1997 Crop Cotton Classification
Services to Growers
AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA.
ACTION: Final rule.
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SUMMARY: The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) is reducing user fees
for cotton producers for 1997 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 1996 user
fee for this classification service was $1.50 per bale. This rule would
reduce the fee for the 1997 crop to $1.40 per bale. The 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.
EFFECTIVE DATE: July 1, 1997.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lee Cliburn, 202-720-2145.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: A proposed rule detailing the revisions was
published in the Federal Register on March 17, 1997, (62 FR 12577). A
30-day comment period was provided for interested persons to respond to
the proposed rule: No comments were received.
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.
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 rule 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 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 1996 user
fee for classification services was $1.50 per bale; the fee for the
1997 crop will be reduced to $1.40 per bale; the 1997 crop is estimated
at 17,587,000 bales);
(2) The cost reduction will not affect competition in the
marketplace; and
(3) The use of classification services is voluntary.
In compliance with OMB regulations (5 CFR part 1320) which
implement the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1980 (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 of 1980 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).
The changes will be made effective July 1, 1997, 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 $1.50 per bale during the 1996 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, supervision, and development
and maintenance of cotton standards.
This rule establishes the user fee charged to producers for HVI
classification at $1.40 per bale during the 1997 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 1996. Therefore, the 1997
producer's user fee for classification service is based on the 1996
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 1996 base fee for HVI classification exclusive of adjustments,
as provided by the Act, was $2.04 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 $2.04 results in a 1997 base fee of $2.08
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 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 1997 crop is
[[Page 25800]]
estimated at 17,587,000. The 1997 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 31 cents per bale reduction and was subtracted from the
1997 base fee of $2.08 per bale, resulting in a fee of $1.77 per bale.
With a fee of $1.77 per bale, the projected operating reserve would
be 41.93 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 $1.77 was reduced by 37 cents per bale, to
$1.40 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 establishes the 1997 season fee at $1.40 per bale.
Accordingly, Sec. 28.909, paragraph (b) will 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 will continue to be applied to
voluntary centralized billing and collecting agents as specified in
Sec. 28.909(c).
Growers or their designated agents will continue to incur no
additional fees if only one method of receiving classification data is
requested. The fee for each additional method of receiving
classification data in Sec. 28.910 will remain at five cents per bale,
and it will be applied even if the same method is requested. The fee in
Sec. 28.910(b) for an owner receiving classification data from the
central database will remain at five cents per bale, and the minimum
charge of $5.00 for services provided per monthly billing period will
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 reduced
from $1.50 per bale to $1.40 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 procedures, 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 Part 28 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 $1.40 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 $1.40 per bale.
* * * * *
Dated: May 6, 1997.
Lon Hatamiya,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 97-12345 Filed 5-9-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-02-P
