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.

Proposed Rules Federal Register

3851 

Vol. 78, No. 12 

Thursday, January 17, 2013 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Agricultural Marketing Service 

7 CFR Part 58 

[Doc. No. AMS–DA–10–0002] 

Increase in Fees for Voluntary Federal 

Dairy Grading and Inspection Services 

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, 

USDA. 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: The Agricultural Marketing 

Service (AMS) is proposing to increase 

the fees for voluntary Federal dairy 

grading and inspection services. The fee 

increases proposed are 15 percent 

during fiscal year (FY) 2013 and 5 

percent during FY 2014. These fees 

were last adjusted in 2006. Dairy 

grading and inspection services are 

voluntary and are financed in their 

entirety through user fees assessed to 

participants using the program. Despite 

the adoption of technologies that have 

improved services, additional changes 

in operations that enhanced efficiencies, 

and reduced employee numbers, 

increases in salaries, technology 

investments, and general inflation have 

more than offset savings resulting in the 

need to increase fees. AMS estimates the 

proposed fee increase will result in an 

overall cost increase to the industry of 

less than $0.0004 per pound of dairy 

product graded. This increase is needed 

to avoid a reduction in the services 

offered that aid the dairy industry in 

effectively marketing their products. 

DATES: Comments must be received on 

or before: February 19, 2013. 

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are 

invited to submit comments for public 

viewing using the electronic process 

available at the Federal eRulemaking 

portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 

Reference should be made to the title of 

the action and docket number, AMS– 

DA–10–0002, and note the date and 

page number of this issue of the Federal 

Register. Written comments may also be 

submitted to Diane Lewis, Director, 

Grading and Standards Division, Dairy 

Programs, Agricultural Marketing 

Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 

Stop 0225, Room 2968—South, 1400 

Independence Avenue SW., 

Washington, DC 20250–0225. 

Comments may be faxed to (202) 690– 

3410. All comments received will be 

available for public inspection at: 

http://www.regulations.gov 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Diane Lewis, Director, Grading and 

Standards Division, Dairy Programs, 

Agricultural Marketing Service, U.S. 

Department of Agriculture, Stop 0225, 

Room 2968—South, 1400 Independence 

Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20250– 

0225, or call (202) 720–4392. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Executive Orders 12866 and 12988 

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). 

This rule has been reviewed under 

Executive Order 12988, Civil Justice 

Reform. This action is not retroactive. 

There are no administrative procedures 

which must be exhausted prior to any 

judicial challenge to the provisions of 

this rule. 

Regulatory Flexibility Act and 

Paperwork Reduction Act 

Pursuant to the requirement set forth 

in the Regulatory Flexibility Act, AMS 

has considered the economic impact of 

this action on small entities. It has been 

determined that its provisions would 

not have a significant economic effect 

on a substantial number of small 

entities. For the purpose of the 

Regulatory Flexibility Act, a dairy 

products manufacturer is a ‘‘small 

business’’ if it has fewer than 500 

employees. If a plant is part of a larger 

company operating multiple plants that 

collectively exceed the 500 employee 

limit, the plant will be considered a 

large business even if the local plant has 

fewer than 500 employees. 

Under the Agricultural Marketing Act 

of 1946, the Dairy Grading and 

Inspection Branch, AMS, provides 

voluntary Federal inspection and dairy 

product grading services to about 360 

plants. An estimated 345 of these users 

are small businesses under the criteria 

established by the Small Business 

Administration (13 CFR 121.201). 

This proposed rule will raise the fees 

charged to businesses for voluntary 

plant inspections, grading services for 

dairy and related products. This 

proposal will affect all businesses that 

use these services equally. Dairy 

processing plants participating in the 

voluntary plant inspection program 

have their facility inspected against 

established USDA ‘‘General 

Specifications for Dairy Plants 

Approved for USDA Inspection and 

Grading Service’’ construction and 

sanitation requirements. Businesses are 

under no obligation to use these 

voluntary user-fee based services and 

any decision on their part to 

discontinue the use of the services 

would not prevent them from marketing 

their products. It is estimated that the 

proposed fee increases will result in an 

increase to plants of $0.0004 per pound 

of graded product. Therefore, AMS has 

determined that this proposed rule will 

not have a significant economic impact 

on small businesses. 

A review of reporting requirements 

was completed under the Paperwork 

Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 

Chapter 35). It was determined that this 

rule would have no impact on reporting, 

recordkeeping, or other compliance 

requirements for entities currently using 

voluntary Federal dairy inspection and 

grading services because they would 

remain identical to the current 

requirements. 

This action does not request 

additional information collection that 

requires clearance by OMB. The primary 

sources of data used to complete the 

forms are routinely used in most 

business transactions. Forms require 

only a minimal amount of information 

which can be supplied without data 

processing equipment or a trained 

statistical staff. Thus, the information 

collection and reporting burden is 

small. Requiring the same information 

from all participating dairy plants does 

not significantly disadvantage any plant 

that is smaller than the industry 

average. 

Description of Program 

Plants participating in the voluntary 

AMS Dairy Grading and Inspection 

Program process milk into dairy foods 

that enter commerce as retail products, 

ingredients for further processing, 

purchases for Federal food assistance 

programs, or exports to other countries. 


pmangrum on DSK3VPTVN1PROD with 
3852 Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 12 / Thursday, January 17, 2013 / Proposed Rules 

Services provided by the program 

enhance the marketability and add 

value to dairy and dairy-containing 

foods. Dairy products manufactured in 

facilities complying with the USDA 

inspection requirements are eligible to 

be graded against official quality 

standards and specifications established 

by AMS and certain contract provisions 

between buyer and seller. Dairy 

products tested and graded by AMS 

have certificates issued describing the 

product’s quality and condition. 

AMS continually reviews cost 

structures to assure it is operating 

efficiently while maintaining the 

resources necessary to meet the dairy 

industry’s demand for services. 

Periodically, fees must be adjusted to 

ensure that the program remains 

financially self-supporting. The AMS 

Dairy Grading and Inspection Program 

has made great efforts to reduce the 

costs associated with providing grading 

and inspection services since the last fee 

increase in 2006 (71 FR 60805). Costsaving initiatives to date have resulted 

in substantial gains in the efficiency of 

service delivery. In 2006, total costs for 

the program were $5.2 million to grade 

and certify 1.5 billion pounds of dairy 

products–a per pound cost of $0.0035. 

In 2011, the program’s total costs were 

$5.3 million to grade and certify 2.0 

billion pounds of dairy products—a per 

pound cost of product certified of 

$0.0026, a 25 percent improvement in 

efficiency. Further enhancements will 

continue to improve the efficiency, 

quality and timeliness of providing 

inspection and grading services. 

In an effort to minimize the costs 

associated with managing its workforce, 

the Dairy Grading and Inspection 

Program has restructured. The number 

of administrative personnel has been 

reduced from 14 full time employees to 

5 resulting in annual savings of over 

$400,000. The National Field Office, 

located in the suburbs of Chicago, colocated with other USDA offices in 

Lisle, Illinois, saving about $32,000 

annually. One supervisor and one 

training position were eliminated 

allowing about $170,000 to be 

redirected to cover cost increases for 

additional grading staff needed to 

provide requested services. In addition, 

incorporation of system automation has 

resulted in faster customer service with 

less staff involvement, especially in the 

delivery of export certificates. Advances 

in electronic submissions and deliveries 

allowed nearly 20,000 export certificates 

to be issued with only 2.0 staff positions 

during FY 2011. 

Although significant effort has been 

directed at reducing expenses, savings 

from these efforts have not offset 

increasing operating expenses incurred 

over the past 6 years. Consequently, 

existing fee rates are no longer adequate 

to cover current obligations. The 

program is depleting reserve funds at a 

rate that jeopardizes its ability to ensure 

effective delivery of services to meet 

industry needs. Given these trends, 

services will have to be significantly 

reduced if revenue is not increased. 

Fees must be adjusted to cover current 

and projected operating costs. Without a 

fee increase, AMS anticipates that it will 

have to reduce Federal Dairy Grading 

and Inspection Services in 2013. 

Proposed Action 

The Secretary of Agriculture is 

authorized by the Agricultural 

Marketing Act of 1946 (AMA), as 

amended (7 U.S.C. 1621, et seq.), to 

provide voluntary Federal dairy 

inspection and grading services to 

facilitate the orderly marketing of dairy 

products and to enable consumers to 

obtain the quality of dairy products they 

desire. The AMA also provides for the 

collection of reasonable fees from users 

of the Federal dairy inspection and 

grading services to cover the cost of 

providing these services. The hourly 

fees are established by distributing the 

program’s projected operating costs over 

the estimated service-revenue hours 

provided to users. AMS continually 

reviews its cost structure to assure it is 

operating efficiently while maintaining 

the resources necessary to meet the 

dairy industry’s demand for services. 

Periodically, fees must be adjusted to 

ensure that the program remains 

financially self-supporting. 

As part of its financially selfsupporting status, agency requirements 

necessitate that the program maintain a 

reserve trust fund with a minimum of 4 

months of operating funds to account 

for program closure or an unexpected 

decrease in revenues. Since revenues 

have not covered program costs for 

several years, the trust fund has 

gradually been depleted. The fund first 

dipped below its mandated 4-month 

reserve level in FY 2010. Fiscal year 

2012 revenue was $5.190 million with 

operating expenses at $5.333 million, 

resulting in an end of year trust fund 

balance of $83,000 or 0.2 months of 

operating reserve. Similar financial 

performance in FY 2013 will create a 

deficit of $198,000. Without a fee 

increase, the AMS Dairy Grading and 

Inspection Branch will be put in an 

unstable financial position that will 

adversely affect the ability to provide 

dairy inspection and grading services. 

In an effort to reduce costs and delay 

depletion of reserve funds, AMS has 

continued to automate its business 

practices, consolidate facilities, limit 

personnel, and implement other 

efficiencies. As detailed earlier, progress 

to date for the AMS Dairy Grading and 

Inspection Program has been significant 

and has resulted in decreasing costs per 

pound of graded product from $0.0035 

to $0.0026. This is equivalent to a 

savings of approximately $816,000 on 

every one billion pounds of product 

graded. Further enhancements in 

automated business practices will 

continue to improve the efficiency and 

timeliness of providing inspection and 

grading services as well as information 

to users of these services. 

In view of the above considerations, 

AMS proposes to increase the hourly 

fees associated with Federal dairy 

grading and inspection services. This 

proposed rule includes a two-part 

incremental fee increase consisting of 15 

percent beginning in February 2013 and 

an additional 5 percent in October 2013. 

Currently the fees are $63.00 per hour 

for continuous resident services and 

$68.00 per hour for non-resident 

services. The proposed increases result 

in fees of $72.00 per hour for 

continuous resident services effective 

February 2013 and $76.00 per hour 

effective October 2013. The proposed 

fee for non-resident services between 

the hours of 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. would be 

$78.00 per hour beginning February 

2013 and $82.00 per hour as of October 

2013. The fee for non-resident services 

between the hours of 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. 

would be $85.80 per hour effective 

February 2013 and $90.20 as of October 

2013. For services performed in excess 

of 8 hours per day and for services 

performed on Saturday, Sunday, and 

legal holidays, 11⁄2 times the base fees 

would apply and result in increases to 

$108.00 per hour for resident grading 

beginning February 2013 and $114.00 

per hour effective October 2013. 

Similarly, a fee of $117.00 per hour for 

non-resident grading services effective 

February 2013 and $123.00 as of 

October 2013 would also apply. The 

following table summarizes the 

proposed fee changes: 


pmangrum on DSK3VPTVN1PROD with 
Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 12 / Thursday, January 17, 2013 / Proposed Rules 3853 

Service (all rates in dollars per hour) Current February 2013 October 2013 

Continuous resident services .......................................................................................... $63.00 $72.00 $76.00 

Non-resident services ...................................................................................................... 68.00 78.00 82.00 

Non-resident services 6 p.m.–6 a.m. (10 percent night differential) ............................... 74.80 85.80 90.20 

Continuous resident services—in excess of 8 hours (11⁄2 × base) ................................. 94.50 108.00 114.00 

Non-resident—in excess of 8 hours ................................................................................ 102.00 117.00 123.00 

AMS estimates that dairy grading and 

inspection fees including the proposed 

increases will generate the following 

revenue (in thousands of dollars): FY 

2013 ($5,618); FY 2014 ($6,199); FY 

2015 ($6,254); and FY 2016 ($6,296). 

Program costs are estimated as follows 

(in thousands of dollars): FY 2013 

($5,522); FY 2014 ($5,517); FY 2015 

($5,583); FY 2016 ($5,800). The 

additional cost to the industry will 

represent less than $0.0004 per pound 

of product certified. Even at this 

increased rate, program analysis 

estimate that trust fund reserves will not 

reach its required minimum level before 

FY 2016. Trust fund reserves are 

estimated as follows (in thousands of 

dollars): FY 2013 ($113); FY 2014 

($795); FY 2015 ($1,466); FY 2016 

($1,961). 

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 58 

Dairy Products, Food grades and 

standards, Food labeling, Reporting and 

recordkeeping requirements. 

For the reason set forth in the 

preamble, 7 CFR part 58 is proposed to 

be amended as follows: 

PART 58—GRADING AND 

INSPECTION, GENERAL 

SPECIFICATIONS FOR APPROVED 

PLANTS AND STANDARDS FOR 

GRADES OF DAIRY PRODUCTS 

■ 1. The authority citation for 7 CFR 

part 58 continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 1621–1627. 

■ 2. Section 58.43 is revised to read as 

follows: 

§ 58.43 Fees for inspection, grading, and 

sampling. 

Except as otherwise provided in 

§§ 58.38 through 58.46 and through the 

last day of September 2013 inclusive, 

charges shall be made for inspection, 

grading, and sampling service at the 

hourly rate of $78.00 for services 

performed between 6:00 a.m. and 6:00 

p.m. and at $85.80 for services 

performed between 6:00 p.m. and 6:00 

a.m. for service performed for the time 

required to perform the service 

calculated to the nearest 15-minute 

period, including the time required for 

preparation of certificates and reports 

and the travel time of the inspector or 

grader in connection with the 

performance of the service. Following 

the last day of September 2013, the 

hourly rate will be equal to $82.00 for 

service performed between 6:00 a.m. 

and 6:00 p.m. and $90.20 for services 

performed between 6:00 p.m. and 6:00 

a.m. calculated in the same manner. A 

minimum charge of one-half hour shall 

be made for service pursuant to each 

request or certificate issued. Charges for 

service performed in excess of the 

assigned tour of duty shall be made at 

a rate of 11⁄2 times the rate stated in this 

section. 

■ 3. Section 58.45 is revised to read as 

follows: 

§ 58.45 Fees for continuous resident 

services. 

Irrespective of the fees and charges 

provided in §§ 58.39 and 58.43, charges 

for the inspector(s) and grader(s) 

assigned to a continuous resident 

program shall be made at the rate of 

$72.00 per hour for services performed 

during the assigned tour of duty until 

the last day of September 2013. 

Following the last day of September 

2013, the hourly rate shall be assessed 

at $76.00 for services calculated in the 

same manner. Charges for service 

performed in excess of the assigned tour 

of duty shall be made at a rate of 11⁄2

times the rate stated in this section. 

Dated: January 14, 2013. 

David R. Shipman, 

Administrator, Agricultural Marketing 

Service. 

[FR Doc. 2013–00916 Filed 1–16–13; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–02–P 

NUCLEAR REGULATORY 

COMMISSION 

10 CFR Parts 71 and 72 

[NRC–2013–0004] 

Retrievability, Cladding Integrity and 

Safe Handling of Spent Fuel at an 

Independent Spent Fuel Storage 

Installation and During Transportation 

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission. 

ACTION: Request for comments for 

potential rulemaking. 

SUMMARY: The regulations for packaging 

and transport of spent nuclear fuel are 

separate from requirements for storage 

of spent nuclear fuel. Because these 

regulatory schemes are separate, there is 

no requirement that loaded storage 

casks also meet transportation 

requirements. Integration of storage and 

transport regulations could enable a 

more predictable transition from storage 

to transport by potentially minimizing 

future handling of spent fuel and 

uncertainty as to whether loaded storage 

casks may be transported from the 

storage location. As part of its 

evaluation of integration and 

compatibility between storage and 

transportation regulations, the U.S. 

Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) 

staff is reviewing its policies, 

regulations, guidance, and technical 

needs in several key areas, such as: 

retrievability, cladding integrity, and 

safe handling of spent fuel; criticality 

safety features and requirements for 

spent fuel transportation; and aging 

management and qualification of dualpurpose canisters and components after 

long-term storage. The NRC staff is 

reviewing the potential policy issues 

and requirements related to 

retrievability, cladding integrity, and 

safe handling of spent fuel as the lead 

issue for evaluating compatibility of 

storage and transportation regulations. 

As part of its evaluation of integration 

and compatibility between NRC’s 

storage regulations and transportation 

regulations, the NRC is issuing this 

request for comment (available in the 

NRC’s Agencywide Documents Access 

and Management System (ADAMS) 

under Accession No. ML12293A434) as 

the staff begins its review of NRC 

policies, guidance, and technical needs 

related to retrievability, cladding 

integrity, and safe handling of spent 

fuel. 

DATES: Submit comments by March 18, 

2013. Comments received after the 

comment period deadline will be 

considered if it is practical to do so, but 

the NRC is only able to ensure 

consideration of comments received on 

or before the end of the public comment 

period. 

ADDRESSES: You may access information 

and comment submissions related to 

this document, which the NRC 

possesses and are publicly available, by 

searching on http://www.regulations.gov 


pmangrum on DSK3VPTVN1PROD with