[Federal Register: March 26, 2009 (Volume 74, Number 57)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 13128-13129]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr26mr09-25]
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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 13128]]
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Agricultural Marketing Service
7 CFR Part 28
[Doc. AMS-CN-09-0011; CN-09-001]
User Fees for 2009 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 2009 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 2008
user fee for this classification service was $2.00 per bale. This
proposal would raise the fee for the 2009 crop to $2.20 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 April 10, 2009.
ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit written comments
concerning this proposed rule to Darryl Earnest, Deputy Administrator,
Cotton and Tobacco Program, 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:
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 Rm. 2637--South Building,
1400 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC. Comments can also be
viewed on: regulations.gov. 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 Program, AMS, USDA, Room 2637-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 2008 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 2008
user fee for classification services was $2.00 per bale; the fee for
the 2009 crop would be increased to $2.20 per bale; the 2009 crop is
estimated at 14,500,000 bales).
(2) The fee for services will not affect competition in the
marketplace; and
(3) The use of classification services is voluntary. For the 2008
crop, 12,740,000 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
2007 crop of 53.50 cents per pound, 500 pound bales of cotton are worth
an average of $267.50 each. The proposed user fee increase for
classification services, $.20 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.
Fees for Classification Under the Cotton Statistics and Estimates Act
of 1927
This proposed rule would establish the user fee charged to
producers for HVI classification at $2.20 per bale for the 2009 cotton
crop. The 2009 user fee charged to cotton producers for High Volume
Instrument (HVI) classification was calculated using new methodology,
as was authorized by section 14201 of the Food, Conservation, and
Energy Act of 2008 (Pub. L. 110-234) (2008 Farm Bill). In previous
years, the fee was determined using a user-fee formula mandated in the
Uniform Cotton Classing Fees Act of 1987 (Pub. L. 100-108, 101 Stat.
728) (1987 Act), as amended. This formula used the previous year's base
fee that was adjusted for inflation and economies of size (1 percent
decrease/increase for every 100,000 bales above/below 12.5 million
bales with maximum adjustment being 15 percent). The user
fee was then further adjusted to comply with operating reserve
constraints (between 10 and 25 percent of projected operating costs)
specified by the 1987 Act.
The 2008 user fee charged to cotton producers for High Volume
Instrument
[[Page 13129]]
(HVI) classification services under the Cotton Statistics and Estimates
Act of 1927 (7 U.S.C. 471-476) was $2.00 per bale during the 2008
harvest season as determined by using the formula provided in the 1987
Act. The fee covered salaries, costs of equipment and supplies, and
other overhead costs, including costs for administration and
supervision. Also, the fee structure for the 2007 crop year was
incorporated under the authority of the Cotton Standards Act of 1923 (7
U.S.C 51-65), by an interim final rule effective October 1, 2007 (72 FR
56242).
Section 14201 of the 2008 Farm Bill provides that: (1) The
Secretary shall make available cotton classification services to
producers of cotton, and provide for the collection of classification
fees from participating producers or agents that voluntarily agree to
collect and remit the fees on behalf of the producers; (2)
classification fees collected and the proceeds from the sales of
samples submitted for classification shall, to the extent practicable,
be used to pay the cost of the services provided, including
administrative and supervisory costs; (3) the Secretary shall announce
a uniform classification fee and any applicable surcharge for
classification services not later than June 1 of the year in which the
fee applies; and (4) in establishing the amount of fees under this
section, the Secretary shall consult with representatives of the United
States cotton industry. At pages 313-314, the Joint Explanatory
Statement of the committee of conference for section 14201 stated the
expectation that the cotton classification fee would be established in
the same manner as was applied during the 1992 through 2007 fiscal
years. The classification fee should continue to be a basic, uniform
fee per bale fee as determined necessary to maintain cost-effective
cotton classification service. Further, in consulting with the cotton
industry, the Secretary should demonstrate the level of fees necessary
to maintain effective cotton classification services and provide the
Department of Agriculture with an adequate operating reserve, while
also working to limit adjustments in the year-to-year fee.
Under the provisions of section 14201, a user fee (dollar per bale
classed) is established that, when combined with other sources of
revenue, will result in projected revenues sufficient to reasonably
cover budgeted costs--adjusted for inflation--and allow for adequate
operating reserves to be maintained. Costs considered in this method
include salaries, costs of equipment and supplies, and other overhead
costs, such as facility costs and costs for administration and
supervision. In addition to covering expected costs, the user fee is
set such that projected revenues will generate an operating reserve
adequate to effectively manage uncertainties related to crop size and
cash-flow timing while meeting minimum reserve requirements set by the
Agricultural Marketing Service, which require maintenance of a reserve
fund amount equal to four months of projected operating costs.
Extensive consultations regarding the establishment of the
classification fee with U.S. cotton industry representatives were held
during the period from September 2008 through January 2009 during
numerous publicly held meetings. Representatives of all segments of the
cotton industry, including producers, ginners, bale storage facility
operators, merchants, cooperatives, and textile manufacturers were
addressed in various industry-sponsored forums.
The user fee established to be charged cotton producers for High
Volume Instrument (HVI) classification in 2009 is $2.20 per bale. This
fee is based on the pre-season projection that 14.5 million bales will
be classed by the United States Department of Agriculture during the
2009 crop year.
Accordingly Sec. 28.909, paragraph (b) would reflect the increase
of the HVI classification fee to $2.20 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
$2.20 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 2009 cotton crop
on July 1, 2009.
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 $2.20 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 $2.20 per bale.
* * * * *
Dated: March 23, 2009.
Craig Morris,
Acting Associate Administrator.
[FR Doc. E9-6805 Filed 3-23-09; 4:15 pm]