72098 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 251 / Thursday, December 31, 1998 / Rules and Regulations 

City, Iowa; Des Moines, Iowa; Augusta, 

Maine; Boston, Massachusetts; 

Southwestern Michigan; MinneapolisSt. Paul, Minnesota; New York, New 

York; Rochester, New York; Asheville, 

North Carolina; Charlotte, North 

Carolina; Cincinnati, Ohio; Cleveland, 

Ohio; Southwestern Oregon; Pittsburgh, 

Pennsylvania; Eastern Tennessee; 

Houston-Galveston-Texas City, Texas; 

Roanoke, Virginia; and Milwaukee, 

Wisconsin, FWS wage areas. 

VA requested that OPM designate 

DOD as the lead agency in the wage 

areas where VA is currently designated 

as the lead agency. Since the 

establishment of the FWS in 1972, VA 

has played a key role in the 

administration of the pay program for 

FWS employees. However, during the 

past few years, VA has experienced 

reductions in overall employment in the 

human resources management areas 

both in field and headquarters activities. 

At the headquarters level, two out of 

three experienced specialists assigned to 

oversee FWS wage surveys are no longer 

available to work in that area because of 

retirements and reassignments. VA 

believes a consolidation of the FWS 

survey function within one agency will 

be more efficient and will provide a 

level of consistency in the survey 

process that will strengthen the FWS 

program nationwide. DOD expressed its 

willingness and indicated its ability to 

assume lead agency responsibility in the 

wage areas where VA is currently 

assigned lead agency responsibility. 

The proposed change was reviewed 

by the Federal Prevailing Rate Advisory 

Committee (FPRAC), the national labormanagement committee responsible for 

advising OPM on matters that affect the 

pay of FWS employees. The 

management members of FPRAC 

proposed this change because 

diminishing staff resources within VA 

headquarters make it very difficult for 

VA to accomplish its wage survey work 

in an effective manner, and because 

DOD expressed its ability and 

willingness to assume lead agency 

responsibility in all FWS wage areas. 

After considering all possible 

alternatives, the Committee 

recommended approval of the change in 

lead agency by majority vote. All 

Committee members voted for the 

proposal except for the National 

Federation of Federal Employees, which 

abstained. The remaining labor 

members of FPRAC supported the 

proposed change with reservations, 

stating that although no reasonable 

alternative exists, they are concerned 

about the placement of 

Governmentwide FWS wage 

determinations within a single agency. 

Pursuant to section 553(d)(3) of title 5, 

United States Code, I find that good 

cause exists to make this regulation 

effective in less than 30 days. This 

regulation is being made effective in less 

than 30 days because of the 

recommendation of FPRAC that DOD 

assume lead agency responsibility for all 

FWS wage areas where practical at the 

start of the calendar year. 

Regulatory Flexibility Act 

I certify that these regulations will not 

have a significant economic impact on 

a substantial number of small entities 

because they will affect only Federal 

agencies and employees. 

List of Subjects in 5 CFR Part 532 

Administrative practice and 

procedure, Freedom of information, 

Government employees, Reporting and 

recordkeeping requirements, Wages. 

U.S. Office of Personnel Management. 

Janice R. Lachance, 

Director. 

Accordingly, the Office of Personnel 

Management is amending 5 CFR part 

532 as follows: 

PART 532—PREVAILING RATE 

SYSTEMS 

1. The authority citation for part 532 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 5 U.S.C. 5343, 5346; § 532.707 

also issued under 5 U.S.C. 552. 

Appendix A to Subpart B of Part 532 

[Amended] 

2. Appendix A to subpart B is 

amended for the New Haven-Hartford, 

Connecticut; Miami, Florida; Tampa-St. 

Petersburg, Florida; Champaign-Urbana, 

Illinois; Chicago, Illinois; Cedar RapidsIowa City, Iowa; Des Moines, Iowa; 

Augusta, Maine; Boston, Massachusetts; 

Southwestern Michigan; MinneapolisSt. Paul, Minnesota; New York, New 

York; Rochester, New York; Asheville, 

North Carolina; Charlotte, North 

Carolina; Cincinnati, Ohio; Cleveland, 

Ohio; Southwestern Oregon; Pittsburgh, 

Pennsylvania; Eastern Tennessee; 

Houston-Galveston-Texas City, Texas; 

Roanoke, Virginia; and Milwaukee, 

Wisconsin, wage areas by revising the 

lead agency listings from ‘‘VA’’ to 

‘‘DOD’’. 

[FR Doc. 98–34394 Filed 12–30–98; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6325–01–P 

OFFICE OF PERSONNEL 

MANAGEMENT 

5 CFR Part 550 

RIN 3206–AH63 

Pay Administration (General); 

Collection by Offset From Indebted 

Government Employees 

AGENCY: Office of Personnel 

Management. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: The Office of Personnel 

Management is issuing a final rule to 

make changes in the salary offset 

regulations to comply with the Debt 

Collection Improvement Act of 1996. 

The principal changes relate to the roles 

played by disbursing officials and debt 

collection centers with respect to salary 

offset. Also included are new expedited 

salary offset procedures for certain types 

of recent or small-amount debts. 

EFFECTIVE DATE: February 1, 1999. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Paul 

Shields, (202) 606–2858, FAX: (202) 

606–0824, or email to 

payleave@opm.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On April 

16, 1998, the Office of Personnel 

Management (OPM) published 

regulations proposing changes in the 

salary offset regulations to comply with 

the Debt Collection Improvement Act of 

1996. The principal changes relate to 

the roles played by disbursing officials 

and debt collection centers with respect 

to salary offset. Also included are new 

expedited salary offset procedures for 

certain types of recent or small-amount 

debts. Comments were received from 

one labor organization and four Federal 

agencies. 

The labor organization requested 

clarification regarding the effect of these 

changes on Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA) employees. FAA 

has informed OPM that, under the 

authority of section 347 of the 1996 

Department of Transportation 

Appropriations Act, FAA employees are 

no longer covered by the provisions of 

title 5 of the United States Code and 

related regulations. FAA has established 

policies paralleling the provisions of 

title 5 of the United States Code in many 

areas. One such area is salary offset 

under 5 U.S.C. 5514. FAA is considering 

whether or not to adopt as FAA policy 

the amendments made by this rule. 

The labor organization’s first 

recommendation was that Federal 

agencies should be directed to enter into 

appropriate bargaining with their 

respective unions over this change. We 

believe it would be inappropriate for 
Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 251 / Thursday, December 31, 1998 / Rules and Regulations 72099 

our regulations to require agencies to 

bargain over the implementation of 

these regulations. That decision is a 

matter more appropriately resolved by 

management and the exclusive 

representatives. 

Secondly, the labor organization 

recommended that the decision about 

whether a flat amount or a percentage of 

the indebtedness is deducted from the 

employee’s pay should be the 

employee’s choice. Under the salary 

offset law (5 U.S.C. 5514), the creditor 

agency establishes the repayment 

schedule; however, the employee may 

request a hearing regarding the terms of 

the repayment schedule. The decision to 

use a flat dollar amount or a percentagebased offset is simply one aspect of the 

repayment schedule. 

An agency asked for clarification of 

the new section 550.1108 regarding who 

would determine the amount to be offset 

(collected) from an employee’s salary 

payments. Section 550.1108 deals with 

centralized administrative offset by 

disbursing officials, such as those in the 

Department of the Treasury. In applying 

centralized administrative offsets, 

disbursing officials follow the 

instructions of the creditor agency. The 

creditor agency is responsible for 

determining the debt repayment 

schedule (i.e., the schedule of salary 

offsets) and for providing notice to the 

employee. (See section 

550.1104(b)(2)(ii) and (d)(3).) A creditor 

agency may also authorize a debt 

collection center to act in its behalf in 

establishing the terms of the repayment 

schedule, subject to any rules or 

conditions established by the creditor 

agency. (See section 550.1110 and the 

definition of ‘‘debt collection center’’ in 

section 550.1103.) We are making some 

minor clarifying language changes in 

section 550.1108 of these final 

regulations, including changes in the 

fourth sentence. As originally drafted in 

the proposed rule, the wording of this 

sentence implied that only a single 

payment is available for offset. The 

revised sentence references plural 

payments. 

Two agencies commented that the 

regulations should provide that the 

decision of a hearing official in a salary 

offset proceeding concerning the 

existence or the amount of an 

employee’s indebtedness is binding on 

the agency as well as on the employee 

for all purposes. After careful review, 

we have decided not to include such a 

provision in the final regulations. The 

position reflected in the proposed 

regulations is in accord with wellreasoned decisions of the Comptroller 

General, who concluded that under the 

express terms of 5 U.S.C. 5514(a), as 

amended by the Debt Collection Act of 

1982, Pub. L. No. 97–365, section 5, 96 

Stat. 1749 (1982), a hearing official’s 

determination concerning the existence 

or the amount of an indebtedness in a 

salary offset proceeding is made only for 

purposes of determining whether to 

allow a salary offset. The creditor 

agency remains legally responsible for 

administering the program under which 

the debt arose. Thus, a hearing official’s 

determination does not supersede the 

finding by the creditor agency that a 

debt is owed and does not affect the 

Government’s ability to recoup the 

indebtedness through alternative 

collection methods. See Comptroller 

General decisions Secretary of Energy, 

B–211626, December 19, 1984, and 

Alfred H. Varga, B–260909, December 

17, 1996. 

The Department of Defense (DOD) 

made two comments. First, that under 

the modification of the definition of 

‘‘agency’’ in the proposed regulation, 

DOD would constitute one agency for 

salary offset purposes, including the 

designation of hearing officials. Under 

the current regulatory definition of 

‘‘agency,’’ there are four agencies within 

DOD: the Department of Defense (which 

encompasses the DOD agencies other 

than the military services), the 

Department of the Army, the 

Department of the Navy, and the 

Department of the Air Force. Thus, the 

current regulations allow one military 

department to provide a hearing official 

for another military department or a 

Defense agency. If the proposed change 

in the definition of ‘‘agency’’ were to be 

made final, DOD would have to make 

other arrangements for hearing officials, 

which would create an otherwise 

unnecessary and undue administrative 

burden on DOD. In response to this 

comment, we have revised the 

definition of ‘‘agency’’ to make clear 

that, for the purposes of this subpart, a 

military department will be treated as a 

separate agency. 

DOD also proposed that, while not 

affected by the proposed rule, the 

provisions of 5 CFR 550.1104(d)(11) 

should be changed. This section 

requires that agency letters notifying the 

debtor of the agency’s intent to collect 

through salary offset include a statement 

that any knowingly false or frivolous 

statements, representations, or evidence 

may subject the employee to 

disciplinary procedures, penalties under 

the False Claims Act, or criminal 

penalties. DOD stated the view that 

because most of the agency’s debts are 

administratively established, the use of 

this unnecessarily harsh language in 

debt letters should be within the 

discretionary authority of the agency. 

This raises a new issue not mentioned 

in the proposed rule. As the public has 

not had a chance to comment, we are 

unable to make such a change in this 

final rule. We note this recommendation 

and will consider it for possible later 

action. 

Covered agencies are required to make 

necessary conforming changes in their 

agency salary offset regulations. Under 5 

CFR 550.1105(b), significant proposed 

changes in creditor agency regulations 

must be submitted to OPM for review 

and approval. However, as long as these 

changes in agency regulations are made 

merely to conform with the changes 

made in our regulations, no OPM review 

will be required. 

Regulatory Flexibility Act 

I certify that these regulations will not 

have a significant economic impact on 

a substantial number of small entities 

because they will apply only to Federal 

agencies and employees. 

List of Subjects in 5 CFR Part 550 

Administrative practice and 

procedure, Claims, Government 

employees, Wages. 

Office of Personnel Management. 

Janice R. Lachance, 

Director. 

Accordingly, OPM is amending part 

550 of title 5 of the Code of Federal 

Regulations as follows: 

PART 550—PAY ADMINISTRATION 

(GENERAL) 

Subpart K—Collection by Offset From 

Indebted Government Employees 

1. The authority citation for subpart K 

of part 550 continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 5 U.S.C. 5514; sec. 8(1) of E.O. 

11609; redesignated in sec. 2–1 of E.O. 

12107. 

2. In § 550.1102, paragraph (b) is 

revised to read as follows: 

§ 550.1102 Scope. 

* * * * * 

(b) Applicability. This subpart and 5 

U.S.C. 5514 apply in recovering certain 

debts by administrative offset, except 

where the employee consents to the 

recovery, from the current pay account 

of the employee. Because salary offset is 

a type of administrative offset, debt 

collection procedures for salary offset 

which are not specified in 5 U.S.C. 5514 

and these regulations should be 

consistent with the provisions of the 

Federal Claims Collections Standards 

(FCCS) (dealing with administrative 

offset generally) and 31 CFR part 285 

(dealing with centralized administrative 
72100 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 251 / Thursday, December 31, 1998 / Rules and Regulations 

offset under 31 U.S.C. 3716). Section 

550.1108 addresses the use of 

centralized administrative offset 

procedures to effect salary offset. 

Generally, the procedures under 

§ 550.1109 should apply only when 

centralized administrative offset cannot 

be accomplished. 

(1) Excluded debts. The procedures 

contained in this subpart do not apply 

to debts arising under the Internal 

Revenue Code (26 U.S.C. 1 et seq.) or 

the tariff laws of the United States or to 

any case where collection of a debt by 

salary offset is explicitly provided for or 

prohibited by another statute (e.g., travel 

advances in 5 U.S.C. 5705 and employee 

training expenses in 5 U.S.C. 4108). 

(2) Waiver requests. This subpart does 

not preclude an employee from 

requesting waiver of an erroneous 

payment under 5 U.S.C. 5584, 10 U.S.C. 

2774, or 32 U.S.C. 716, or in any way 

questioning the amount or validity of a 

debt, in the manner prescribed by the 

head of the responsible agency. 

Similarly, this subpart does not 

preclude an employee from requesting 

waiver of the collection of a debt under 

any other applicable statutory authority. 

3. In § 550.1103, the definitions of 

agency, creditor agency, disposable pay, 

and FCCS are revised, and the definition 

of debt collection center is added in 

alphabetical order, to read as follows: 

§ 550.1103 Definitions. 

* * * * * 

Agency means an executive 

department or agency; a military 

department; the United States Postal 

Service; the Postal Rate Commission; 

the United States Senate; the United 

States House of Representatives; any 

court, court administrative office, or 

instrumentality in the judicial or 

legislative branches of the Government; 

or a Government corporation. 

Creditor Agency means the agency to 

which the debt is owed, including a 

debt collection center when acting in 

behalf of a creditor agency in matters 

pertaining to the collection of a debt (as 

provided in § 550.1110). 

* * * * * 

Debt collection center means the 

Department of the Treasury or other 

Government agency or division 

designated by the Secretary of the 

Treasury with authority to collect debts 

on behalf of creditor agencies in 

accordance with 31 U.S.C. 3711(g). 

Disposable pay means that part of 

current basic pay, special pay, incentive 

pay, retired pay, retainer pay, or in the 

case of an employee not entitled to basic 

pay, other authorized pay remaining 

after the deduction of any amount 

required by law to be withheld (other 

than deductions to execute garnishment 

orders in accordance with parts 581 and 

582 of this chapter). Among the legally 

required deductions that must be 

applied first to determine disposable 

pay are levies pursuant to the Internal 

Revenue Code (title 26, United States 

Code) and deductions described in 

§ 581.105(b) through (f) of this chapter. 

* * * * * 

FCCS means the Federal Claims 

Collection Standards published in 4 

CFR parts 101 through 105. 

* * * * * 

4. Section 550.1104 is amended, in 

paragraph (d), in the second sentence of 

the introductory text, by removing ‘‘or 

his designee’’ and adding in its place 

‘‘(or authorized designee)’’; in paragraph 

(d)(4), by adding ‘‘as defined in 

§ 550.1103’’ after ‘‘FCCS’’; in paragraph 

(d)(6), by removing ‘‘(4 CFR 102.2(e))’’ 

and adding in its place ‘‘(see the 

FCCS)’’; in paragraph (e)(1), by adding 

the word ‘‘creditor’’ before the second 

appearance of the word ‘‘agency’’; in 

paragraph (g)(2), by removing ‘‘4 CFR 

102.3(c)’’ and adding in its place ‘‘the 

FCCS’’; in paragraph (m), by removing 

‘‘4 CFR 102.3’’ and adding in its place 

‘‘the FCCS’’; in paragraph (n), by 

removing ‘‘4 CFR 102.13’’ and adding in 

its place ‘‘the FCCS’’; and by revising 

paragraphs (c) and (d)(3) to read as 

follows: 

§ 550.1104 Agency regulations. 

* * * * * 

(c) Exception to entitlement to notice, 

hearing, written responses, and final 

decisions. In regulations covering 

internal collections, an agency must 

except from the provisions of paragraph 

(b) of this section— 

(1) Any adjustment to pay arising out 

of an employee’s election of coverage or 

a change in coverage under a Federal 

benefits program requiring periodic 

deductions from pay, if the amount to 

be recovered was accumulated over 4 

pay periods or less; 

(2) A routine intra-agency adjustment 

of pay that is made to correct an 

overpayment of pay attributable to 

clerical or administrative errors or 

delays in processing pay documents, if 

the overpayment occurred within the 4 

pay periods preceding the adjustment 

and, at the time of such adjustment, or 

as soon thereafter as practical, the 

individual is provided written notice of 

the nature and the amount of the 

adjustment and point of contact for such 

adjustment; or 

(3) Any adjustment to collect a debt 

amounting to $50 or less, if, at the time 

of such adjustment, or as soon thereafter 

as practical, the individual is provided 

written notice of the nature and the 

amount of the adjustment and a point of 

contact for contesting such adjustment. 

(d) * * * 

(3) The frequency and amount of the 

intended deduction (stated as a fixed 

dollar amount or as a percentage of pay, 

not to exceed 15 percent of disposable 

pay) and the intention to continue the 

deductions until the debt is paid in full 

or otherwise resolved; 

* * * * * 

§ 550.1106 [Amended] 

5. Section 550.1106 is amended by 

removing ‘‘4 CFR 102.3(b)(3)’’ and 

adding ‘‘the FCCS as defined in 

§ 550.1103’’ in its place. 

§ 550.1107 Obtaining the services of a 

hearing official. 

6. Section 550.1107 is amended, in 

paragraph (a), by removing ‘‘4 CFR 

102.1’’ and adding ‘‘the FCCS as defined 

in § 550.1103’’ in its place; in paragraph 

(b), by removing ‘‘4 CFR 102.1’’ and 

adding ‘‘the FCCS’’ in its place; and by 

adding a new paragraph (c) to read as 

follows: 

* * * * * 

(c) The determination of a hearing 

official designated under this section is 

considered to be an official certification 

regarding the existence and amount of 

the debt for purposes of executing salary 

offset under 5 U.S.C. 5514. A creditor 

agency may make a certification to the 

Secretary of the Treasury under 

§ 550.1108 or a paying agency under 

§ 550.1109 regarding the existence and 

amount of the debt based on the 

certification of a hearing official. If a 

hearing official determines that a debt 

may not be collected via salary offset, 

but the creditor agency finds that the 

debt is still valid, the creditor agency 

may still seek collection of the debt 

through other means, such as offset of 

other Federal payments, litigation, etc. 

7. Section 550.1108 is redesignated as 

§ 550.1109 and is amended by removing 

the ‘‘(b)’’ after ‘‘5514’’ in paragraph 

(a)(3), adding ‘‘claim’’ after the first 

appearance of ‘‘debt’’ in paragraph 

(b)(2), removing ‘‘creditor agency’s’’ in 

paragraph (b)(3), and adding 

introductory text at the beginning of the 

section to read as follows: 

§ 550.1109 Requesting recovery from the 

paying agency. 

When possible, salary offset through 

the centralized administrative offset 

procedures in § 550.1108 should be 

attempted before applying the 

procedures in this section. 

* * * * * 

7a. New § 550.1108 is added to read 

as follows: 
Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 251 / Thursday, December 31, 1998 / Rules and Regulations 72101 

§ 550.1108 Requesting recovery through 

centralized administrative offset. 

Under 31 U.S.C. 3716, creditor 

agencies must notify the Secretary of the 

Treasury of all debts that are delinquent 

as defined in the FCCS (over 180 days) 

so that recovery may be made by 

centralized administrative offset. This 

includes those debts the agency seeks to 

recover from the pay account of an 

employee of another agency via salary 

offset. The Secretary of the Treasury and 

other Federal disbursing officials will 

match payments, including Federal 

salary payments, against these debts. 

Where a match occurs, and all the 

requirements for offset have been met, 

the payments will be offset to collect the 

debt. Prior to offset of the pay account 

of an employee, an agency must comply 

with the requirements of 5 U.S.C. 5514, 

this subpart, and agency regulations 

issued thereunder. Specific procedures 

for notifying the Secretary of the 

Treasury of a debt for purposes of 

collection by centralized administrative 

offset are contained in 31 CFR part 285 

and the FCCS. At its discretion, a 

creditor agency may notify the Secretary 

of the Treasury of debts that have been 

delinquent for 180 days or less, 

including debts the agency seeks to 

recover from the pay account of an 

employee via salary offset. 

8. A new § 550.1110 is added to read 

as follows: 

§ 550.1110 Debt collection centers. 

A debt collection center may act in 

behalf of a creditor agency to collect 

claims via salary offset consistent with 

this section, subject to any limitations 

on its authority established by the 

creditor agency it represents or by the 

U.S. Department of the Treasury. 

(a) A debt collection center may be 

authorized to enter into a written 

agreement with the indebted employee 

regarding the repayment schedule or, in 

the absence of such agreement, to 

establish the terms of the repayment 

schedule. 

(b) A debt collection center may make 

certifications to the Secretary of the 

Treasury under § 550.1108 or to a 

paying agency under § 550.1109 based 

on the certifications it has received from 

the creditor agency or a hearing official. 

(c) A debt collection center 

responsible for collecting a particular 

debt may not act in behalf of a creditor 

agency for the purpose of making 

determinations regarding the existence 

or amount of that debt. 

(d) A debt collection center 

responsible for collecting a particular 

debt may arrange for a hearing on the 

existence or amount of the debt or the 

repayment schedule by an 

administrative law judge or, 

alternatively, another hearing official 

not under the supervision or control of 

the head of the creditor agency or the 

debt collection center. 

[FR Doc. 98–34396 Filed 12–30–98; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6325–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Agricultural Marketing Service 

7 CFR Parts 52, 53 and 54 

[Docket Number LS–98–13] 

Processed Fruits and Vegetables and 

Regulations Governing the Grading 

and Certification of Livestock, Meats, 

Prepared Meats, and Meat Products 

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, 

USDA. 

ACTION: Correcting Amendments. 

SUMMARY: The Livestock Market News 

(LMN) Branch and the Meat Grading 

and Certification (MGC) Branch of the 

Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) 

are amending certain regulations to 

update them and to correct minor errors. 

This action is being taken to improve 

the accuracy and clarity of the 

regulations. 

EFFECTIVE DATE: January 1, 1999. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John 

E. VanDyke, Chief, LMN Branch, 

telephone 202–720–6231, or Larry 

Meadows, Chief, MGC Branch, 

telephone 202–720–1246. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

AMS has discovered that certain 

errors exist in the codified regulations. 

This document corrects those errors. 

In part 52, section 52.1843, 

paragraphs (e)(i) and (ii) should be 

classified as (e)(1) and (2), respectively. 

In the Federal Register of June 30, 

1998 (63 FR 35500), AMS published a 

final rule entitled ‘‘Removal of U.S. 

Standards and Other Selected 

Regulations.’’ The final rule revoked 

Subpart B (7 CFR Parts 53 and 54). 

However, in issuing the rule, the agency 

inadvertently neglected to remove the 

cross-reference to Subpart B in parts 53 

and 54, Subpart A—Regulations. 

Therefore, this action is being taken to 

correct these inadvertent omissions. 

Need for Correction 

The regulations codified in the Code 

of Federal Regulations and published in 

the Federal Register (63 FR 35500) 

contain errors which may prove to be 

misleading and need to be clarified. 

List of Subjects 

7 CFR Part 52 

Food grades and standards, Food 

labeling, Frozen foods, Fruit juices, 

Fruits, Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements, vegetables. 

7 CFR Part 53 

Cattle, Hogs, Livestock, Sheep. 

7 CFR Part 54 

Food grades and standards, Food 

labeling, Meat and meat products. 

Accordingly, 7 CFR parts 52, 53 and 

54 are corrected by making the 

following amendments: 

PART 52—[AMENDED] 

1. The authority citation for 7 CFR 

part 52 continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 1621–1627. 

§ 52.1843 [Amended] 

2. In § 52.1843, paragraphs ‘‘(e)(i)’’ 

and ‘‘(e)(ii)’’ are corrected to read 

‘‘(e)(1)’’ and ‘‘(e)(2)’’, respectively. 

PART 53—LIVESTOCK (GRADING, 

CERTIFICATION, AND STANDARDS) 

1. The authority citation for 7 CFR 

part 53 continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 1621–1627. 

2. Section 53.1, is amended by 

revising paragraph ‘‘Grade’’ (2) and the 

definition for ‘‘Standards’’ to read as 

follows: 

§ 53.1 Meaning of words. 

* * * * * 

Grade. (1) * * * 

(2) As a verb, this term means to 

determine the class, grade, or other 

quality of livestock according to 

applicable standards for such livestock. 

* * * * * 

Standards. The standards of the 

Department contained in Official United 

States Standards for Grades of: Carcass 

Beef; Veal and Calf Carcasses; Lamb, 

Yearling Mutton, and Mutton Carcasses; 

and, Pork Carcasses. 

* * * * * 

3. In § 53.4, the first sentence is 

revised to read as follows: 

§ 53.4 Kind of service. 

Grading service under the regulations 

shall consist of the determination and 

certification and other identification, 

upon request by the applicant, of the 

class, grade, or other quality of livestock 

under applicable standards. * * *