[Federal Register: April 17, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 75)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 20842-20843]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr17ap08-16]
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Proposed Rules
Federal Register
________________________________________________________________________
This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains notices to the public of
the proposed issuance of rules and regulations. The purpose of these
notices is to give interested persons an opportunity to participate in
the rule making prior to the adoption of the final rules.
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[[Page 20842]]
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Agricultural Marketing Service
7 CFR Part 28
[AMS-CN-07-0092; CN-08-001]
0581-AC80
User Fees for 2008 Crop Cotton Classification Services to Growers
AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA.
ACTION: Proposed rule.
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SUMMARY: The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) is proposing to raise
user fees for cotton producers for 2008 crop cotton classification
services under the Cotton Statistics and Estimates Act. These user fees
also are authorized under the Cotton Standards Act of 1923. The 2007
user fee for this classification service was $1.85 per bale. This
proposal would raise the fee for the 2008 crop to $2 per bale. The
proposed fee and the existing reserve are sufficient to cover the costs
of providing classification services, including costs for
administration and supervision.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before May 2, 2008.
ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit written comments
concerning this proposed rule to Darryl Earnest, Deputy Administrator,
Cotton and Tobacco Programs, AMS, USDA, STOP 0224, 1400 Independence
Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20250-0224. Comments should be submitted in
triplicate. Comments may also be submitted electronically to: http://
www.regulations.gov. All comments should reference the docket number
and the date and the page of this issue of the Federal Register. All
comments received will be available for public inspection during
regular business hours at the above office in Room 2639--South
Building, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC. A copy of this
notice may be found at: http://www.ams.usda.gov/cotton/rulemaking.htm.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Darryl Earnest, Deputy Administrator,
Cotton and Tobacco Programs, AMS, USDA, Room 2639-S, STOP 0224, 1400
Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20250-0224. Telephone (202)
720-2145, facsimile (202) 690-1718, or e-mail darryl.earnest@usda.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Executive Order 12866
This proposed rule has been determined to be not significant for
purposes of Executive Order 12866; and, therefore, has not been
reviewed by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).
Executive Order 12988
This proposed 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. 601-612) 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 so that small businesses will not be
disproportionately burdened. There are an estimated 25,000 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). The increase above the 2007 crop level
as stated 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 2007
user fee for classification services was $1.85 per bale; the fee for
the 2008 crop would be increased to $2.00 per bale; the 2008 crop is
estimated at 14,000,000 bales).
(2) The fee for services will not affect competition in the
marketplace; and
(3) The use of classification services is voluntary. For the 2007
crop, 19,033,000 bales were produced; and, almost all of these bales
were voluntarily submitted by growers for the classification service.
(4) Based on the average price paid to growers for cotton from the
2006 crop of 47.3 cents per pound, 500 pound bales of cotton are worth
an average of $236.50 each. The proposed user fee increase for
classification services, $2.00 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. 3501-3520), 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-AC43.
It is anticipated that the proposed changes, if adopted, would be
made effective July 1, 2008.
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 $1.85 per bale during the 2007 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. The fee
structure for the 2007 crop year was incorporated under the authority
of the Cotton Standards Act of 1923, by an interim final rule effective
October 1, 2007 (72 FR 56242).
This proposed rule establishes the user fee charged to producers
for HVI classification at $2.00 per bale during the 2008 harvest
season.
The classification fees are based on the prevailing method of
classification requested by producers during the previous year. HVI
classing was the
[[Page 20843]]
prevailing method of cotton classification requested by producers in
2007. Therefore, the 2008 producers' user fee for classification
service is based on the 2007 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 which AMS also considers reasonable under the authority of the
Cotton Standards Act of 1923. The 2007 base fee for HVI classification
exclusive of adjustments, as provided by that Act, was $2.52 per bale.
An increase of 3.06 percent, or 7 cents per bale, due to the implicit
price deflator of the gross domestic product added to the $2.52 would
result in a 2008 base fee of $2.59 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, gross
national product has been replaced by 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 2008 crop is estimated at 14,000,000 bales. The
2008 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 decreased
adjustment of 15 percent). This percentage factor amounts to a 39 cents
per bale reduction and was subtracted from the 2008 base fee of $2.59
per bale, resulting in a fee of $2.20 per bale.
However, with a fee of $2.20 per bale, the projected operating
reserve would be 31.6 percent. The 1987 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 $2.20 is reduced by 20
cents per bale, to $2.00 per bale, to provide an ending accumulated
operating reserve for the fiscal year of not more than 25 percent of
the projected cost of operating the program. This would establish the
2008 season fee at $2.00 per bale.
Accordingly, Sec. 28.909, paragraph (b) would reflect the increase
of the HVI classification fee to $2.00 per bale.
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 receiving classification data
would continue to incur no additional fees if classification data is
requested only once. The fee for each additional retrieval of
classification data in Sec. 28.910 would remain at 5 cents per bale.
The fee in Sec. 28.910(b) for an owner receiving classification data
from the National 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
National database for the business convenience of an owner without
reclassification of the cotton will remain the same at 15 cents per
bale or a minimum of $5.00 per sheet.
The fee for review classification in Sec. 28.911 would increase to
$2.00 per bale.
The fee for returning samples after classification in Sec. 28.911
would remain at 50 cents per sample.
A 15-day comment period is provided for public comments. This
period is appropriate because it is anticipated that the proposed
changes, if adopted, would be made effective for the 2008 cotton crop
on July 1, 2008.
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
proposed to be amended to read 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. 51-65; 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 $2.00 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 $2.00 per bale.
* * * * *
Dated: April 15, 2008.
Lloyd C. Day,
Administrator, Agricultural Marketing Service.
[FR Doc. 08-1148 Filed 4-15-08; 12:36 pm]
BILLING CODE 3410-02-P