Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 247 / Thursday, December 27, 2018 / Rules and Regulations 66583 

the request 110 days before the 

proceeding is scheduled to begin. 

(ii) Failure to timely submit a request 

for a final agency determination or FCIC 

interpretation may result in: 

(A) FCIC issuing a determination that 

no interpretation could be made because 

the request was not timely submitted; 

and 

(B) Nullification of any agreement or 

award in accordance with § 400.766 if 

no final agency determination or FCIC 

interpretation can be provided. 

(iii) Notwithstanding paragraph (b) of 

this section, if during the mediation, 

arbitration, or litigation proceeding, an 

issue arises that requires a final agency 

determination or FCIC interpretation the 

mediator, arbitrator, judge, or magistrate 

must promptly request a final agency 

determination or FCIC interpretation in 

accordance with § 400.767(a). 

(4) FCIC at its sole discretion may 

authorize personnel to provide an oral 

or written final agency determination or 

FCIC interpretation, as appropriate; and 

(5) Any decision or settlement 

resulting from such mediation, 

arbitration, or litigation proceeding 

before FCIC provides its final agency 

determination or FCIC interpretation 

can be nullified in accordance with 

§ 400.766. 

(c) If multiple parties are involved 

and have opposing interpretations, a 

joint request for a final agency 

determination or FCIC interpretation 

including both requestor interpretations 

in one request is encouraged. If multiple 

insured persons are parties to the 

dispute, and the request for a final 

agency determination or FCIC 

interpretation applies to all parties, one 

request may be submitted for all insured 

persons instead of separate requests for 

each person. In this case, the 

information required in this section 

must be provided for each person. 

§ 400.768 FCIC obligations. 

(a) FCIC will not provide a final 

agency determination or FCIC 

interpretation for any request regarding, 

or that contains, specific factual 

information to situations or cases, such 

as acts or failures to act of any 

participant under the terms of a policy, 

procedure, or any reinsurance 

agreement. 

(1) FCIC will not consider specific 

factual information to situations or cases 

in any final agency determination or 

FCIC interpretation. 

(2) FCIC will not consider any 

examples or hypotheticals provided in 

your interpretation because those are 

fact-specific and could be construed as 

a finding of fact by FCIC. If an example 

or hypothetical is required to illustrate 

an interpretation, FCIC will provide the 

example in the interpretation. 

(b) If, in the sole judgment of FCIC, 

the request is unclear, ambiguous, or 

incomplete, FCIC will not provide a 

final agency determination or FCIC 

interpretation, but will notify you 

within 30 days of the date of receipt by 

FCIC that the request is unclear, 

ambiguous, or incomplete. 

(c) If FCIC notifies you that a request 

is unclear, ambiguous or incomplete 

under paragraph (b) of this section, the 

90-day time period for FCIC to provide 

a response is stopped on the date FCIC 

notifies you. On the date FCIC receives 

a clear, complete, and unambiguous 

request, FCIC has the balance of the 

days remaining in the 90-day time 

period to provide a response to you. For 

example, FCIC receives a request for a 

final agency determination on January 

10. On February 10, FCIC notifies you 

the request is unclear. On March 10, 

FCIC receives a clarified request that 

meets all requirements for FCIC to 

provide a final agency determination. 

FCIC has sixty days from March 10, the 

balance of the 90-day time period, to 

provide a response. 

(d) FCIC reserves the right to modify 

the request if FCIC determines that a 

request for a final agency determination 

is really a request for a FCIC 

interpretation or vice versa. 

(e) FCIC will provide you a written 

final agency determination or a FCIC 

interpretation within 90 days of the date 

of receipt for a request that meets all 

requirements in § 400.767. 

(f) If FCIC does not provide a response 

within 90 days of receipt of a request, 

you may assume your interpretation is 

correct for the applicable crop year. 

However, your interpretation shall not 

be considered generally applicable and 

shall not be binding on any other 

program participants. Additionally, in 

the case of a joint request for a final 

agency determination or a FCIC 

interpretation, if FCIC does not provide 

a response within 90 days, neither party 

may assume their interpretations are 

correct. 

(g) FCIC will publish all final agency 

determinations as specially numbered 

documents on the RMA website because 

they are generally applicable to all 

program participants. 

(h) FCIC will not publish any FCIC 

interpretation because it is only 

applicable to the parties in the dispute. 

You are responsible for providing copies 

of the FCIC interpretation to all other 

parties. 

(i) When issuing a final agency 

determination or a FCIC interpretation, 

FCIC will not evaluate the insured, 

insurance provider, agent, or loss 

adjuster as it relates to their 

performance of following FCIC policy 

provisions or procedures. 

Interpretations will not include any 

analysis of whether the insured, 

insurance provider, agent, or loss 

adjuster was in compliance with the 

policy provision or procedure in 

question. 

Martin R. Barbre, 

Manager, Federal Crop Insurance 

Corporation. 

[FR Doc. 2018–27858 Filed 12–26–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–08–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

7 CFR Part 800 

[Doc. No. AMS–FGIS–18–0063] 

Removal of Specific Fee Reference 

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, 

USDA. 

ACTION: Direct final rule. 

SUMMARY: The United States Grain 

Standards Act (USGSA) provides the 

Secretary with the authority to charge 

and collect reasonable fees to cover the 

costs of performing official services and 

the costs associated with managing the 

program. The USDA, on behalf of the 

Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), 

is eliminating the published table of fees 

in the Code of Federal Regulations 

(CFR). Notice of changes to Schedule A 

Fees will be published in the Federal 

Register and AMS will make the fee 

schedule available on the Agency’s 

public website. 

DATES: This rule is effective February 

11, 2019, unless we receive written 

adverse comments or written notices of 

intent to submit adverse comments on 

or before January 28, 2019. If we receive 

such comments or notices, we will 

publish a timely document in the 

Federal Register withdrawing the direct 

final rule. 

ADDRESSES: Submit comments by any of 

the following methods: 

• Postal Mail: Please send your 

comment addressed to Kendra Kline, 

AMS, USDA, 1400 Independence 

Avenue SW, Room 2043–S, Washington, 

DC 20250–3614. 

• Hand Delivery or Courier: Kendra 

Kline, AMS, USDA, 1400 Independence 

Avenue SW, Room 2043–S, Washington, 

DC 20250–3614. 

• internet: Go to http://

www.regulations.gov. Follow the on-line 

instructions for submitting comments. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Denise Ruggles, FGIS Executive Program 

Analyst, USDA AMS; Telephone: (816) 


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66584 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 247 / Thursday, December 27, 2018 / Rules and Regulations 

659–8406; Email: Denise.M.Ruggles@

ams.usda.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

USDA, on behalf of AMS, is removing 

the fee tables from the CFR. AMS 

calculates the tonnage fees according to 

the regulatory formula in § 800.71(b)(1). 

In 2015 Congress required Grain 

Inspection, Packers and Stockyards 

Administration (GIPSA) to adopt a 

method of calculation of export tonnage 

fees based upon ‘‘the rolling 5-year 

average of export tonnage volumes.’’ 

And, ‘‘[i]n order to maintain an 

operating reserve of not less than 3 and 

not more than 6 months, the Secretary 

shall adjust the fees described . . . not 

less frequently than annually.’’ Since 

2016, the Federal Grain Inspection 

Service (FGIS)—currently a division of 

AMS—conducts a ministerial review of 

the amount of funds in the operating 

reserve at the end of the fiscal year to 

ensure that it has 41⁄2 months of 

operating expenses as required by 

§ 800.71(b)(2) of the regulations. If the 

operating reserve has more or less than 

41⁄2 months of operating expenses, then 

FGIS must adjust all its fees. For each 

$1,000,000, rounded down, that the 

operating reserve varies from the target 

of 41⁄2 months, FGIS adjusts all those 

fees by 2 percent. FGIS reduces the fees 

if the operating reserve exceeds the 

target and it increases the fees if the 

operating reserve does not meet target. 

The maximum annual increase or 

decrease in fees is 5 percent (7 CFR 

800.71(b)(2)(i)–(ii)). 

However, when creating the formula 

for fees FGIS administers, FGIS did not 

remove the published table of fees in the 

CFR. Under the prior fee publication 

and adjustment scheme, the agency 

allowed notice and comment on the fee 

table because it established the fees, and 

the fee table provided the ultimate 

public notice of the fees themselves. 

Since the change to 7 CFR 800.71, 

FGIS no longer establishes fees through 

publication of the table in the CFR. The 

current method uses the regulatory 

formula in § 800.71(b)(1). Comment on 

the publication of the table in the 

Federal Register, therefore, does not 

have any impact on the statutorily 

mandated formula which is the basis of 

all the fees in the table. For this reason, 

annual publication of changes to the 

CFR of the fee table is unnecessary, 

because the adjustment of fees in 7 CFR 

800.71 occurs by formula. 

Also, the publication of the table in 

the Federal Register has provided the 

public with annual notice of the fees. 

While the publication of the table does 

provide this important function, FGIS 

believes there are less expensive but no 

less effective methods to provide public 

notice of the formula’s required changes 

to the fees themselves. Annual 

publication changes to the table in the 

CFR unnecessarily increases the cost of 

administering the fees, and is 

inconsistent with administration 

priorities to be prudent and financially 

responsible in the expenditure of funds. 

Accordingly, this table is being 

eliminated from the CFR. AMS will 

provide public notice of the change in 

fees through its publication of a notice 

in the Federal Register and posting the 

fees on its public website by January 1 

of each year (7 CFR 800.71(b)(a)(1)). The 

agency expect that this method of notice 

of the ultimate fees is a noncontroversial change in the manner that 

the agency publishes notice of the fees 

and therefore the agency does not 

expect adverse comment. 

GIPSA/AMS Merger 

GIPSA formerly fell within the 

mission area overseen by the Under 

Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory 

Programs (MRP), along with AMS. The 

Under Secretary for MRP’s authority 

over GIPSA is further demonstrated by 

the published delegations of authority 

in part 2 of title 7 of the CFR. In 7 CFR 

2.22(a)(3), the Secretary of Agriculture 

delegated to the Under Secretary for 

MRP authorities ‘‘related to grain 

inspection, packers and stockyards.’’ In 

7 CFR 2.81, the Under Secretary for 

MRP further delegated these authorities 

to the Administrator of GIPSA. 

In a November 14, 2017 Secretary’s 

Memorandum, the Secretary directed 

that the authorities at 7 CFR 2.81 be redelegated to the Administrator of AMS, 

and that the delegations to the 

Administrator of GIPSA be revoked. 

These changes did not affect the existing 

delegations to the Under Secretary of 

MRP related to grain inspection, packers 

and stockyards at 7 CFR 2.22(a)(3). 

Executive Orders 12866 and 13563 

The Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) has reviewed this regulatory 

action in accordance with the 

provisions of Executive Order 12866, 

Regulatory Planning and Review, and 

has determined that it does not meet the 

criteria for significant regulatory action. 

Additionally, because this rule does not 

meet the definition of a significant 

regulatory action, it does not trigger the 

requirements contained in Executive 

Order 13771. See OMB’s Memorandum 

titled ‘‘Guidance Implementing 

Executive Order 13771, Titled 

‘Reducing Regulation and Controlling 

Regulatory Costs’ ’’ (April 5, 2017). 

Direct Final Rule 

No adverse comments are anticipated 

on the changes in this rule. Adverse 

comments suggest that the rule should 

not be adopted or that a change should 

be made to the rule. Unless an adverse 

comment is received within 30 days 

from the date of publication, this rule 

will be effective 45 days from the date 

of publication. If FGIS receives one or 

more written adverse comments within 

30 days from the date of publication, a 

document withdrawing the direct final 

rule prior to its effective date will be 

published in the Federal Register 

stating that adverse comments were 

received. 

Regulatory Flexibility Act 

Since grain export volume can vary 

significantly from year to year, 

estimating the impact in any future fee 

changes can be difficult. AMS 

recognizes the need to provide 

predictability to the industry for 

inspection and weighing fees. AMS 

collects fees for performing official 

inspection and weighing services 

adequately cover the cost of providing 

those services. While not required by 

the Reauthorization Act, this 

rulemaking limits the impact of a large 

annual change in fees by setting an 

annual cap of 5 percent for increases or 

decreases in inspection and weighing 

fees. The statutory requirement to 

maintain an operating reserve between 3 

and 6 months of operating expenses 

ensures that AMS can adequately cover 

its costs without imposing an undue 

burden on its customers. 

Currently, AMS regularly reviews its 

user-fee financed programs and adjusts 

the user-fees according to the equations 

stated in 7 CFR 800.71(b)(2)(ii). The 

regulations (7 CFR 800.71(a)(1)) also 

require AMS to publish the adjusted 

fees by January 1 of each year. These 

regulations remain unchanged in this 

rulemaking. AMS will continue to seek 

out cost saving measures and implement 

appropriate changes to reduce its costs 

to provide alternatives to fee increases. 

This rulemaking is unlikely to have 

an annual effect of $100 million or more 

or adversely affect the economy. Also, 

under the requirements set forth in the 

Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) (5 

U.S.C. 601–12), AMS has considered the 

economic impact of this rulemaking on 

small entities. The purpose of the 

Regulatory Flexibility Act is to fit 

regulatory actions to the scale of 

businesses subject to such actions. This 

ensures that small businesses will not 

be unduly or disproportionately 

burdened. This rulemaking is being 

issued to ensure that the annual fee 


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Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 247 / Thursday, December 27, 2018 / Rules and Regulations 66585 

adjustments are published by January 

1st and are not hindered by the 

rulemaking process. AMS will annually 

publish a Notice in the Federal Register 

on the fee adjustment and publish all 

fees on the public website. 

The Small Business Administration 

(SBA) defines small businesses by their 

North American Industry Classification 

System Codes (NAICS). This rulemaking 

affects customers of AMS’s official 

inspection and weighing services in the 

domestic and export grain markets 

(NAICS code 115114). 

Under the USGSA, all grain exported 

from the United States must be officially 

inspected and weighed. AMS provides 

mandatory inspection and weighing 

services at 43 export facilities in the 

United States and 7 facilities for U.S. 

grain transshipped through Canadian 

ports. Five delegated State agencies 

provide mandatory inspection and 

weighing services at 13 facilities. All of 

these facilities are owned by multinational corporations, large 

cooperatives, or public entities that do 

not meet the requirements for small 

entities established by the SBA. Further, 

the provisions of this rulemaking apply 

equally to all entities. The USGSA 

requires the registration of all persons 

engaged in the business of buying grain 

for sale in foreign commerce. In 

addition, those persons who handle, 

weigh, or transport grain for sale in 

foreign commerce must also register. 

The regulations found at 7 CFR 800.30 

define a foreign commerce grain 

business as persons who regularly 

engage in buying for sale, handling, 

weighing, or transporting grain totaling 

15,000 metric tons or more during the 

preceding or current calendar year. 

Currently, there are 97 businesses 

registered to export grain, most of which 

are not small businesses. 

Most users of the official inspection 

and weighing services do not meet the 

SBA requirements for small entities. 

Further, AMS is required by statute to 

make services available to all applicants 

and to recover the costs of providing 

such services as nearly as practicable, 

while maintaining a 3 to 6 month 

operating reserve. There are no 

additional reporting, record keeping, or 

other compliance requirements imposed 

upon small entities as a result of this 

rulemaking. AMS has not identified any 

other federal rules which may duplicate, 

overlap, or conflict with this 

rulemaking. Because this rulemaking 

does not have a significant economic 

impact on a substantial number of small 

entities, an initial regulatory flexibility 

analysis is not provided. 

Paperwork Reduction Act 

This final rule imposes no new 

reporting or recordkeeping requirements 

necessitating clearance by OMB. 

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 800 

Administrative practice and 

procedure, Exports, Grains, Reporting 

and recordkeeping requirements. 

For the reasons set out in the 

preamble, FGIS amends 7 CFR part 800 

as follows: 

PART 800—GENERAL REGULATIONS 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 800 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 71–87k. 

■ 2. Section 800.71(a)(1) is revised to 

read as follows: 

§ 800.71 Fees assessed by the Service. 

(a) * * * 

(1) Schedule A—Fees for official 

inspection and weighing services 

performed in the United States and 

Canada. For each calendar year, FGIS 

will calculate Schedule A fees as 

defined in paragraph (b) of this section. 

FGIS will publish a notice in the 

Federal Register and post Schedule A 

fees on the Agency’s public website. 

* * * * * 

Dated: December 18, 2018. 

Greg Ibach, 

Under Secretary, Marketing and Regulatory 

Programs. 

[FR Doc. 2018–27787 Filed 12–26–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–02–P 

NUCLEAR REGULATORY 

COMMISSION 

10 CFR Part 72 

[NRC–2018–0265] 

RIN 3150–AK20 

List of Approved Spent Fuel Storage 

Casks: TN Americas LLC Standardized 

Advanced NUHOMS® System, 

Certificate of Compliance No. 1029, 

Amendment No. 4 

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission. 

ACTION: Direct final rule. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission (NRC) is amending its 

spent fuel storage regulations by 

revising the TN Americas LLC 

Standardized Advanced NUHOMS®

Horizontal Modular Storage System 

(NUHOMS® System) listing within the 

‘‘List of approved spent fuel storage 

casks’’ to include Amendment No. 4 to 

Certificate of Compliance No. 1029. 

Amendment No. 4 revises the certificate 

of compliance’s technical specifications 

to: clarify the applicability of unloading 

procedures and training modules 

relative to spent fuel pool availability; 

credit the use of the installed 

temperature monitoring system 

specified in lieu of performing daily 

visual vent inspections; establish dose 

rates on the front inlet bird screen and 

the door of the concrete storage module 

for the Advanced Horizontal Storage 

Module; modify the criteria for 

performing Advanced Horizontal 

Storage Module air vent visual 

inspections; identify the blocked vent 

time limitations for each of the 24PT1 

and 24PT4 dry shielded canisters; and 

provide a new temperature rise value for 

the Advanced Horizontal Storage 

Module with a loaded 24PT4 dry 

shielded canister. 

DATES: This direct final rule is effective 

March 12, 2019, unless significant 

adverse comments are received by 

January 28, 2019. If this direct final rule 

is withdrawn as a result of such 

comments, timely notice of the 

withdrawal will be published in the 

Federal Register. Comments received 

after this date will be considered if it is 

practical to do so, but the NRC is able 

to ensure consideration only for 

comments received on or before this 

date. Comments received on this direct 

final rule will also be considered to be 

comments on a companion proposed 

rule published in the Proposed Rules 

section of this issue of the Federal 

Register. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

by any of the following methods: 

• Federal Rulemaking website: Go to 

http://www.regulations.gov and search 

for Docket ID NRC–2018–0265. Address 

questions about NRC dockets to Carol 

Gallagher; telephone: 301–415–3463; 

email: Carol.Gallagher@nrc.gov. For 

technical questions contact the 

individuals listed in the FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT section of this 

document. 

• Email comments to: 

Rulemaking.Comments@nrc.gov. If you 

do not receive an automatic email reply 

confirming receipt, then contact us at 

301–415–1677. 

• Fax comments to: Secretary, U.S. 

Nuclear Regulatory Commission at 301– 

415–1101. 

• Mail comments to: Secretary, U.S. 

Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 

Washington, DC 20555–0001, ATTN: 

Rulemakings and Adjudications Staff. 

• Hand deliver comments to: 11555 

Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 

20852, between 7:30 a.m. and 4:15 p.m. 


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