This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains regulatory documents having general

applicability and legal effect, most of which

are keyed to and codified in the Code of

Federal Regulations, which is published under

50 titles pursuant to 44 U.S.C. 1510.

The Code of Federal Regulations is sold by

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new books are listed in the first FEDERAL

REGISTER issue of each week.

Rules and Regulations Federal Register

27479 

Vol. 79, No. 93 

Wednesday, May 14, 2014 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Agricultural Marketing Service 

7 CFR Part 28 

[AMS–CN–13–0085] 

RIN 0581–AD35 

User Fees for 2014 Crop Cotton 

Classification Services to Growers 

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, 

USDA. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: The Agricultural Marketing 

Service (AMS) will maintain user fees 

for 2014 crop cotton classification 

services at $2.20 per bale—the same 

level as in 2013. Revenues resulting 

from this cotton classing fee and 

existing reserves are sufficient to cover 

the costs of providing classification 

services for the 2014 crop, including 

costs for administration and 

supervision. 

DATES: Effective Date: July 1, 2014. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Darryl Earnest, Deputy Administrator, 

Cotton & Tobacco Program, AMS, 

USDA, 3275 Appling Road, Room 11, 

Memphis, TN 38133. Telephone (901) 

384–3060, facsimile (901) 384–3021, or 

email darryl.earnest@ams.usda.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Executive Order 12866 and Executive 

Order 13563 

Executive Orders 12866 and 13563 

direct agencies to access all costs and 

benefits of available regulatory 

alternatives and, if regulation is 

necessary, to select regulatory 

approaches that maximize net benefits 

(including potential economic, 

environmental, public health, and safety 

effects, distributive impacts and equity). 

Executive Order 13563 emphasizes the 

importance of quantifying both costs 

and benefits, reducing costs, 

harmonizing rules, and promoting 

flexibility. This action has been 

designated as a ‘‘non-significant 

regulatory action’’ under § 3(f) of 

Executive Order 12866 and therefore 

has not been reviewed by the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB). 

Executive Order 13175 

This action has been reviewed in 

accordance with the requirements of 

Executive Order 13175, Consultation 

and Coordination with Indian Tribal 

Governments. The review reveals that 

this regulation would not have 

substantial and direct effects on Tribal 

governments and would not have 

significant Tribal implications. 

Executive Order 12988 

This final rule has been reviewed 

under Executive Order 12988, Civil 

Justice Reform. It is not intended to 

have retroactive effect. 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 20,000 cotton growers in 

the U.S. who voluntarily use the AMS 

cotton classing services annually, and 

the majority of these cotton growers are 

small business entities under the criteria 

established by the Small Business 

Administration (13 CFR 121.201). Small 

business entities that are growers in the 

U.S. cotton industry are defined as 

having annual receipts less than $750 

thousand. Maintaining the user fee at 

the 2013 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. (According to USDA’s 

Economic Research Service, the U.S. 

average total cost of production in 2012 

was $808 per acre. The user fee for 

classification services of $2.20 per bale 

represents less the one third percent of 

this average U.S. per-bale cost of 

production.); 

(2) The fee for services will not affect 

competition in the marketplace; 

(3) The use of classification services is 

voluntary. For the 2013 crop, 

approximately 12,540,000 bales were 

produced; and, almost all of these bales 

were voluntarily submitted by growers 

for the classification service; and 

(4) Based on the average price paid to 

growers for cotton from the 2013 crop of 

76.26 cents per pound, 500 pound bales 

of cotton are worth an average of 

$381.30 each. The user fee for 

classification services, $2.20 per bale, is 

approximately one half 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), the information collection 

requirements contained in the 

provisions to be amended by this rule 

have been previously approved by OMB 

and were assigned OMB control number 

0581–0008, Cotton Classing, Testing, 

And Standards. 

Fees for Classification Under the Cotton 

Statistics and Estimates Act of 1927 

This final rule establishes a 2014 user 

fee of $2.20 per bale charged to 

producers for cotton classification—the 

same level as the 2013 user fee. The 

2014 user fee was set in accordance to 

requirements in the Cotton Statistics 

and Estimates Act as amended by the 

provisions in the 2008 Farm Bill [Food, 

Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 

(Sec. 14201 3a)]. Amendments based on 

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 


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27480 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 93 / Wednesday, May 14, 2014 / Rules and Regulations 

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. Specifically, it states that 

the classification fee should continue to 

be a basic, uniform fee per bale as 

determined necessary to maintain costeffective 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 the Cotton 

Statistics and Estimates Act as amended 

by the section 14201 of the 2008 Farm 

Bill, a user fee (dollar amount per bale 

classed) is established for the 2014 

cotton crop 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. Furthermore, 

the operating reserve is expected to 

meet minimum reserve requirements set 

by the Agricultural Marketing Service, 

which require maintenance of a reserve 

fund amount equal to at least four 

months of projected operating costs. 

The user fee charged cotton producers 

for cotton classification in 2014 is $2.20 

per bale, which is the same fee charged 

for the 2013 crop. This fee is based on 

the preseason projection that 13,400,000 

bales will be classed by the United 

States Department of Agriculture during 

the 2014 crop year. 

Accordingly, § 28.909, paragraph (b) 

reflects the continuation of the cotton 

classification fee at $2.20 per bale. 

As provided for in the 1987 Act, a 5 

cent per bale discount continues to be 

applied to voluntary centralized billing 

and collecting agents as specified in 

§ 28.909(c). 

Growers or their designated agents 

receiving classification data continue to 

incur no additional fees if classification 

data is requested only once. The fee for 

each additional retrieval of 

classification data in § 28.910 remains at 

5 cents per bale. The fee in § 28.910 (b) 

for an owner receiving classification 

data from the National Database remains 

at 5 cents per bale, and the minimum 

charge of $5.00 for services provided per 

monthly billing period remains the 

same. The provisions of § 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 remains the same at 15 cents 

per bale or a minimum of $5.00 per 

sheet. 

The fee for review classification in 

§ 28.911 is maintained at $2.20 per bale. 

The fee for returning samples after 

classification in § 28.911 remains at 50 

cents per sample. 

Summary of Comments 

A proposed rule was published in the 

Federal Register on April 1, 2014, with 

a comment period of April 1, 2014 

through April 16, 2014 (79 FR 18211). 

AMS received two comments. One 

comment was from a national trade 

organization that represents 

approximately 80 percent of the US 

cotton industry, including cotton 

producers, ginners, warehousemen, 

merchants, cooperatives, cottonseed 

processors, and textile manufacturers 

from Virginia to California. The other 

comment was from a national trade 

organization comprised of eight state 

and regional membership organizations 

that represent approximately 680 

individual cotton ginning operations in 

17 cotton-producing states. Comments 

from both national trade organizations 

expressed support for the decision to 

maintain the fee at the level established 

for the 2013 crop. Comments may be 

viewed at www.regulations.gov. 

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 28 

Administrative practice and 

procedure, Cotton, Reporting and record 

keeping requirements, Warehouses. 

For the reasons set forth in the 

preamble, 7 CFR part 28 is amended 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. 471–476. 

■ 2. In § 28.909, paragraph (b) is revised 

to read as follows: 

§ 28.909 Costs. 

* * * * * 

(b) The cost of High Volume 

Instrument (HVI) cotton classification 

service to producers is $2.20 per bale. 

* * * * * 

■ 3. In § 28.911, the last sentence of 

paragraph (a) is revised to read as 

follows: 

§ 28.911 Review classification. 

(a) * * * The fee for review 

classification is $2.20 per bale. 

* * * * * 

Dated: May 7, 2014. 

Rex A. Barnes, 

Associate Administrator, Agricultural 

Marketing Service. 

[FR Doc. 2014–10962 Filed 5–13–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–02–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Aviation Administration 

14 CFR Part 39 

[Docket No. FAA–2013–0869; Directorate 

Identifier 2013–NM–063–AD; Amendment 

39–17845; AD 2014–09–10] 

RIN 2120–AA64 

Airworthiness Directives; The Boeing 

Company Airplanes 

AGENCY: Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA), DOT. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: We are adopting a new 

airworthiness directive (AD) for certain 

The Boeing Company Model 767 

airplanes. This AD was prompted by 

reports of bearing damage at certain 

trailing edge (TE) flap support rib 

assemblies. This AD requires inspecting 

certain TE flap support rib assemblies to 

determine if the bearings have a roller 

retention feature, and performing 

corrective actions if necessary; and 

inspecting for bearing damage of each 

pair of removed bearings, and 

performing related investigative and 

corrective actions if necessary. We are 

issuing this AD to detect and correct 

damage to the TE flap support bearings, 

which could ultimately result in loss of 

controllability of the airplane. 

DATES: This AD is effective June 18, 

2014. 

The Director of the Federal Register 

approved the incorporation by reference 

of a certain publication listed in this AD 

as of June 18, 2014. 


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