80278 Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 247 / Friday, December 23, 2011 / Proposed Rules 

position that has a substantially greater 

impact on agency performance; and 

(3) The need to retain a senior 

professional whose contributions are 

critical to the agency and who is likely 

to leave the agency in the absence of a 

pay increase. 

(c) Each off-cycle pay increase that is 

based upon such factors as are described 

in paragraphs (b)(1) through (3) of this 

section must be documented in 

accordance with § 534.507(b) through 

(e), except that the agency must also 

provide information to explain how 

each applicable factor was considered in 

determining the pay increase. This 

information may be derived from the 

agency’s written pay procedures 

established under § 534.505, agency 

performance management system 

activities, or other sources the agency 

deems useful for this purpose. 

(d) If the maximum rate of basic pay 

applicable to an agency’s senior 

professionals increases during the one 

year period following the annual pay 

adjustment under § 534.507(a)(1) for 

reasons other than a change in the 

certification status of an applicable 

performance appraisal system, the 

agency head or the designee who 

performs the functions identified in 

§ 430.404(a)(6) of this chapter may 

consider whether, and to what extent, 

an additional pay increase may be 

warranted for a senior professional 

based on the same criteria used in 

determining his or her annual pay 

increase. However, if the increase in 

maximum rate of basic pay is due to a 

change in the certification status of an 

applicable performance appraisal 

system, the requirements of paragraphs 

(a), (b), and (c) of this section apply. 

(e) An off-cycle pay increase granted 

under this section will be effective 

prospectively, not retroactively. 

§ 534.511 Exemption from performance 

appraisal requirements. 

(a) An agency responsible for setting 

and adjusting rates of basic pay for SL 

or ST employees or positions excluded 

from performance appraisal by or under 

statute is, with respect to those 

employees or positions, exempt from 

any provision of this subpart to the 

extent that it makes a pay determination 

contingent upon performance appraisal, 

including— 

(1) Section 534.505(a)(1), (2) and (3) to 

the extent these paragraphs require that 

an agency’s plan for setting and 

increasing rates of basic pay reflect 

meaningful distinctions among SL and 

ST employees based upon individual 

performance and include criteria that 

ensure individuals with the highest 

levels of individual performance, or the 

greatest contributions to agency 

performance, or both receive the highest 

pay increases. The agency must still 

provide written procedures for setting 

and adjusting rates of pay for covered 

SL and ST employees that specify 

criteria that will be applied consistent 

with applicable law. The remaining 

provisions of § 534.505 apply, except for 

references in § 534.505(a)(5) to 

compliance with certification 

requirements, centralized review of 

ratings and pay actions, performance 

differentiation as described in 

§ 430.404(a)(8) of this chapter, and pay 

differentiation as described in 

§ 430.404(a)(9) of this chapter; 

(2) Section 534.507(b), (c), (d), (e), and 

(f). The agency must still document in 

writing the basis for each pay increase 

under § 534.507 in accordance with 

criteria specified in the agency’s written 

procedures under § 534.505(a); and 

(3) Section 534.510(b) and (c). The 

agency must still document in writing 

the basis for each off-cycle pay increase 

under § 534.510 in accordance with 

criteria specified in the agency’s written 

procedures under § 534.505(a). 

(b) Except as specified in paragraph 

(a) of this section, an agency responsible 

for setting and adjusting rates of basic 

pay for SL or ST employees excluded 

from performance appraisal by or under 

statute is subject to the requirements of 

this subpart with respect to those 

employees. 

(c) The maximum rate of basic pay for 

an SL or ST employee or position not 

subject to performance appraisal is the 

maximum rate described in 

§ 534.504(a)(2)(i). An agency head who 

uses the exemption in paragraph (a) of 

this section to set the rate of basic pay 

for SL or ST employees who are not 

subject to performance appraisal may 

not certify that those employees are 

covered by a performance appraisal 

system meeting the certification criteria 

established in part 430, subpart D of this 

chapter for purposes of authorizing rates 

of basic pay above the rate for level III 

of the Executive Schedule. 

(d) Notwithstanding paragraph (c) of 

this section, an agency responsible for 

setting and adjusting rates of basic pay 

for SL or ST employees or positions 

excluded from performance appraisal by 

or under statute is subject to 

§ 534.509(a) when setting a rate of basic 

pay for an SL or ST employee upon 

transfer to such a position. The agency 

may also apply § 534.509(c) upon 

movement of an SL or ST employee 

whose rate of basic pay was initially set 

under § 534.509(a) or § 534.509(c) to 

another SL or ST position that is 

excluded from performance appraisal. 

Pay may be reduced upon the 

movement only as provided in 

§ 534.508. In either case, the employee 

will not be eligible for a pay increase 

until he or she is appointed to an SL or 

ST position that is subject to a certified 

performance appraisal system or until 

his or her rate of basic pay is less than 

the rate for level III of the Executive 

Schedule. 

[FR Doc. 2011–32939 Filed 12–22–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6325–39–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Agricultural Marketing Service 

7 CFR Parts 27 and 28 

[Doc. # AMS–CN–11–0066] 

RIN 0581–AD19 

Revision of Cotton Classification 

Procedures for Determining Cotton 

Leaf Grade 

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, 

USDA. 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: The Agricultural Marketing 

Service (AMS) is proposing to revise the 

procedure for determining the official 

leaf grade for Upland and Pima cotton. 

The leaf grade is a part of the official 

classification which denotes cotton fiber 

quality used in cotton marketing and 

manufacturing of cotton products. 

Currently, the leaf grade is determined 

by visual examination and comparison 

to the Official Cotton Standards by 

qualified cotton classers. This proposed 

revision would replace the classer’s leaf 

determination with the instrument leaf 

measurement made by the High Volume 

Instrument (HVI) system used in official 

cotton classification for Upland Cotton 

since 1991. 

DATES: Comments must be received on 

or before January 9, 2012. 

ADDRESSES: Interested persons may 

comment on the proposed rule using the 

following procedures: 

Internet: http://www.regulations.gov. 

Mail: Darryl Earnest, Deputy 

Administrator, Cotton & Tobacco 

Programs, AMS, USDA, 3275 Appling 

Road, Memphis, TN 38133. Comments 

should be submitted in triplicate. All 

comments should reference the 

document number, date, and page 

number of this issue of the Federal 

Register. 

All comments will be available for 

public inspection at Cotton & Tobacco 

Program, AMS, USDA, 3275 Appling 

Road, Memphis, TN 38133 during 

regular business hours. A copy of this 


jlentini on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS
Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 247 / Friday, December 23, 2011 / Proposed Rules 80279 

notice may be found at: 

www.ams.usda.gov/cotton/ 

rulemaking.htm. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Darryl Earnest, Deputy Administrator, 

Cotton & Tobacco Programs, AMS, 

USDA, 3275 Appling Road, Memphis, 

TN 38133. Telephone (901) 384–3060, 

facsimile (901) 384–3021, or email 

darryl.earnest@ams.usda.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 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. There are no 

administrative procedures which 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 entities. 

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, 

merchants, and textile manufacturers in 

the U.S. who voluntarily use the AMS 

cotton classing services annually under 

the United States Cotton Standards Act 

of 1923, as amended (7 U.S.C. 51–65), 

the Cotton Statistics and Estimates Act 

of 1927 (7 U.S.C. 471–476), and the U.S. 

Cotton Futures Act, [7 U.S.C. 15b, 7 

U.S.C. 4736, 7 U.S.C. 1622(g)]. The 

majority of these cotton growers are 

small businesses under the criteria 

established by the Small Business 

Administration (13 CFR 121.201). The 

change in procedures will not 

significantly affect small businesses as 

defined in the RFA because: 

(1) Classification will continue to be 

based upon the Official Standards for 

Upland Cotton Color Grade established 

and maintained by the Department; 

(2) The HVI measurement has been a 

part of the official classification record 

since 1991. Implementation of the 

revision for all cotton classification will 

not affect competition in the 

marketplace or adversely impact on 

cotton classification fees; and 

(3) The use of cotton classification 

services is voluntary. For the 2010 crop, 

17.6 million bales were produced by 

growers, and virtually all of them were 

voluntarily submitted for USDA 

classification. Futures classification 

services provided for merchants during 

the same period totaled approximately 

680 thousand bales. 

Paperwork Reduction Act 

In compliance with Office of 

Management and Budget (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 regulation to be 

amended is currently approved under 

OMB control number 0581–0008, Cotton 

Classing, Testing and Standards. 

Background 

AMS Cotton and Tobacco Programs 

propose to revise the procedures for 

providing cotton leaf grade 

classification services as authorized by 

the United States Cotton Standards Act 

of 1923, as amended, the Cotton 

Statistics and Estimates Act of 1927, and 

the U.S. Cotton Futures Act. While 

measurements for other quality factors 

are performed by precise HVIs, manual 

determinations for leaf grade and 

extraneous matter are currently part of 

the official USDA cotton classification. 

Accurate assignment of leaf grade is of 

economic importance to all participants 

along the cotton supply chain since leaf 

content is all waste and there is a cost 

factor associated with its removal. 

Furthermore, since small leaf particles 

cannot always be removed, these 

particles detract from the quality and, 

therefore, the value of the finished 

product. 

AMS has instruments with the ability 

to optically identify, with a high level 

of confidence, the number of leaf 

particles (Particle Count) and to 

measure the surface area covered by 

non-lint particles (Area). AMS then 

applies mathematical algorithms to 

correlate Particle Count and Area data to 

Universal Leaf Grade Standards. A pilot 

project was conducted by AMS during 

2009 and 2010 cotton classing seasons 

to evaluate the accuracy of the proposed 

instrument leaf grade determination 

process. Results showed that the HVI 

determines Official leaf grades more 

accurately than cotton classers. The 

Cotton and Tobacco Programs propose 

to introduce instrument leaf grading 

into the cotton classification process. 

This proposed change would improve 

the repeatability, consistency and 

accuracy of leaf grade classification data 

provided to the cotton industry, while 

potentially improving operational 

efficiency. 

For the reasons set forth above, this 

proposed rule would amend the 

sections in Part 28— Cotton Classing, 

Testing, and Standards, Subpart A— 

Regulations Under the United States 

Cotton Standards Act, which establishes 

the procedures for determining official 

cotton classification based on the 

Official Cotton Grade Standards. Since 

cotton classification services under the 

United States Cotton Futures Act must 

conform to the requirements of the 

Cotton Standards Act, this proposed 

rule would also amend the sections in 

Part 27—Cotton Classification Under 

Cotton Futures Legislation which 

establish the procedures for determining 

cotton classification for cotton 

submitted for futures certification. 

In § 27.2 (n), the definition of the term 

‘‘classification’’ would be revised to 

reflect the changes in procedures made 

under Part 28. 

Also under part 27, § 27.31 would be 

revised to reflect the deletion of the 

requirement for cotton classers to 

manually determine leaf grade. The 

revised section would reflect the 

changes made in procedures for 

determination of cotton quality in 

accordance with the official standards. 

In part 28, § 28.8 would be revised to 

reflect the change in cotton 

classification procedures which replaces 

classer visual examinations to 

determine leaf grade with instrument 

leaf measurement by High Volume 

Instruments. 

In addition, miscellaneous other 

changes are proposed to be made to 

parts 27 and 28 to better reflect current 

procedures in view of leaf 

determination change. For example, 

those determinations made by cotton 

classers or by authorized Cotton 

Program employees will be specified. 

A 15-day comment period is provided 

to allow interested persons to respond 

to this proposed rule. The comment 

period has been limited to 15 days from 

the date of publication to allow the 

cotton industry to fully benefit from the 

increased accuracy and repeatability of 

cotton leaf grade data provided by 

instrument leaf grading during the 

current classing season. 

List of Subjects 

7 CFR Part 27 

Commodity futures, Cotton. 

7 CFR Part 28 

Administrative practice and 

procedure, Cotton. 

For the reasons set forth in the 

preamble, 7 CFR parts 27 and 28 are 

proposed to be amended as follows: 


jlentini on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS
80280 Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 247 / Friday, December 23, 2011 / Proposed Rules 

PART 27—[AMENDED] 

1. The authority citation for 7 CFR 

Part 27 continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 15b, 7 U.S.C. 4736, 7 

U.S.C. 1622(g). 

2. In § 27.2, paragraph (n) is revised 

to read as follows: 

§ 27.2 Terms defined. 

* * * * * 

(n) Classification. The classification of 

any cotton shall be determined by the 

quality of a sample in accordance with 

Official Cotton Standards of the United 

States for the color grade, the leaf grade, 

and fiber property measurements of 

American Upland cotton. High Volume 

Instruments will determine all fiber 

property measurements except 

extraneous matter. Cotton classers 

authorized by the Cotton and Tobacco 

Programs will determine the presence of 

extraneous matter. 

* * * * * 

3. Section 27.31 is revised to read as 

follows: 

§ 27.31 Classification of cotton. 

For purposes of subsection 15b(f) of 

The Act, classification of cotton is the 

determination of the quality of a sample 

in accordance with the Official Cotton 

Standards of the United States for the 

color grade and leaf grade of American 

upland cotton, and fiber property 

measurements such as micronaire. High 

Volume Instruments will determine all 

fiber property measurements except 

extraneous matter. High Volume 

Instrument colormeter measurements 

will be used for determining the official 

color grade. Cotton classers authorized 

by the Cotton and Tobacco Programs 

will determine the presence of 

extraneous matter and authorized 

employees of the Cotton and Tobacco 

Programs will determine all fiber 

property measurements using High 

Volume Instruments. 

PART 28—[AMENDED] 

4. The authority citation for 7 CFR 

Part 28 continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 55 and 61. 

5. Section 28.8 is revised to read as 

follows: 

§ 28.8 Classification of cotton; 

determination. 

For the purposes of The Act, the 

classification of any cotton shall be 

determined by the quality of a sample 

in accordance with Official Cotton 

Standards of the United States for the 

color grade and the leaf grade of 

American upland cotton, the length of 

staple, and fiber property measurements 

such as micronaire. High Volume 

Instruments will determine all fiber 

property measurements except 

extraneous matter, special conditions 

and remarks. High Volume Instrument 

colormeter measurements will be used 

for determining the official color grade. 

Cotton classers authorized by the Cotton 

and Tobacco Programs will determine 

the presence of extraneous matter, 

special conditions and remarks and 

authorized employees of the Cotton and 

Tobacco Programs will determine all 

fiber property measurements using High 

Volume Instruments. The classification 

record of a Classing Office or the 

Quality Control Division with respect to 

any cotton shall be deemed to be the 

classification record of the Department. 

Dated: December 14, 2011. 

Robert C. Keeney, 

Acting Administrator. 

[FR Doc. 2011–32926 Filed 12–22–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–02–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Agricultural Marketing Service 

7 CFR Part 58 

[DA–10–0055] 

Grading and Inspection, General 

Specifications for Approved Plants and 

Standards for Grades of Dairy 

Products; General Specifications for 

Dairy Plants Approved for USDA 

Inspection and Grading Service 

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, 

USDA. 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: This document proposes to 

amend the General Specifications for 

Dairy Plants Approved for United States 

Department of Agriculture (USDA) 

Inspection and Grading Service (General 

Specifications) by raising the maximum 

allowable somatic cell count in 

producer herd goat milk from 1,000,000 

cells per milliliter to 1,500,000 cells per 

milliliter. This will ensure that goat 

milk can continue to be shipped and 

recognizes that goats have a need for 

different regulatory limits for somatic 

cells than cows. 

In addition this document proposes to 

eliminate mandatory sediment testing 

on producer milk except for milk in 

cans. The requirement for sediment 

testing has become outdated and is no 

longer needed. 

DATES: Submit written or electronic 

comments on or before February 21, 

2012. 

ADDRESSES: You may use any of the 

following methods to file comments on 

this action: 

By mail: Susan Sausville, Chief, 

Standardization Branch, Dairy 

Programs, STOP 0230 (Room 2746 

South Building), Agricultural Marketing 

Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 

1400 Independence Avenue, SW., 

Washington, DC 20250–0230 

By fax: (202) 720–2643 

By internet: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. 

By email: 

Susan.Sausville@ams.usda.gov. 

Comments should reference the 

docket number and the date and page 

number of this issue of the Federal 

Register. All comments submitted, 

including name and address, if provided 

will be included in the record and made 

available to the public via http:// 

www.regulations.gov. The current 

General Specifications are available 

either from the above mailing address or 

by accessing the following internet 

address: http://www.ams.usda.gov/ 

dairy/Genspecs.pdf. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Susan Sausville, Chief, Standardization 

Branch, Dairy Programs, AMS, USDA, 

telephone (202) 720–9382 or email 

Susan.Sausville@ams.usda.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

A. Executive Order 12866 

This 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). 

B. Regulatory Flexibility Act 

The proposed rule has been reviewed 

in accordance with the Regulatory 

Flexibility Act (RFA) (5 U.S.C. 601 et 

seq.), and AMS has considered the 

economic impact of this action on small 

entities. It is determined that its 

provisions would not have a significant 

economic impact on a substantial 

number of small entities. 

AMS provides, under the authority of 

the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946, 

voluntary, user-fee funded inspection 

and grading services to approximately 

400 dairy manufacturing plants. All of 

the dairy manufacturing plants utilizing 

the program would be considered small 

businesses under the criteria established 

by the Small Business Administration 

(13 CFR 121.201). 

The proposed amendments would not 

have a significant economic impact 

since participation in the USDAapproved plant program is voluntary 

and the cost to those utilizing the 

program would not increase. 


jlentini on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS