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

53760

Vol. 62, No. 200

Thursday, October 16, 1997

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Agricultural Marketing Service

7 CFR Part 58

[DA–97–13]

RIN 0581–AB50

Grading and Inspection, General

Specifications for Approved Plants and

Standards for Grades of Dairy

Products; Proposed Increase in Fees

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service,

USDA.

ACTION: Proposed rule.

SUMMARY: The Agricultural Marketing

Service proposes to increase the fees

charged for services provided under the

dairy inspection and grading program.

The program is a voluntary, user-fee

program conducted under the authority

of the Agricultural Marketing Act of

1946, as amended. The proposed

increases would result in a fee of $51.00

per hour for continuous resident

services and $56.00 per hour for

nonresident services between the hours

of 6:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. The fee for

nonresident services between the hours

of 6:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. would be

$61.60 per hour. These proposed fees

represent an increase of four dollars per

hour. The fees are being increased to

cover the costs of anticipated salary

increases and locality adjustments, the

costs necessary to maintain adequate

levels of service during changing

production and purchasing patterns

within the dairy industry, the continued

full funding for standardization

activities, and other operating costs.

DATES: Comments should be mailed by

November 17, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be

mailed to: Richard McKee, Office of the

Director, USDA/AMS/Dairy Division,

Room 2968-S, P.O. Box 96456,

Washington, DC 20090–6456.

Comments received will be available for

public inspection at this location during

regular business hours.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Lynn G. Boerger, USDA/AMS/Dairy

Division, Dairy Grading Branch, Room

2750-South Building, P.O. Box 96456,

Washington, DC 20090–6456, (202) 720–

9381.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This

proposed rule has been determined to

be not significant for purposes of

Executive Order 12866 and has not been

reviewed by the Office of Management

and Budget.

This proposed rule has been reviewed

under Executive Order 12988, Civil

Justice Reform. This rule is not intended

to have preemptive effect with respect

to any State or local laws, regulations,

or policies. This rule is not intended to

have retroactive effect. There are no

administrative procedures which must

be exhausted prior to any judicial

challenge to this rule or the application

of its provisions.

Pursuant to the requirements set forth

in the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA),

the Agricultural Marketing Service

(AMS) has considered the economic

impact of this action on small entities.

There are more than 600 users of

Dairy Grading Branch’s inspection and

grading services. Many of these users

are small entities under the criteria

established by the Small Business

Administration (13 CFR 121.601). This

rule will raise the fee charged to

businesses for voluntary inspection

services and grading services for dairy

and related products. Even though the

fee will be raised, the increase is

approximately 8.0 percent and will not

significantly affect these entities. These

businesses are under no obligation to

use these services, and any decision on

their part to discontinue the use of the

services would not prevent them from

marketing their products. The

Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS)

estimates that overall this rule will yield

an additional $343,000 during 1998.

The proposed rule reflects certain fee

increases needed to recover the cost of

inspection and grading services

rendered in accordance with the

Agricultural Marketing Act (AMA) of

1946.

AMS regularly reviews its user-fee

financed programs to determine if the

fees are adequate. The existing fee

schedule will not generate sufficient

revenues to cover programs costs while

maintaining an adequate reserve balance

(four months of costs) as called for by

Agency policy (AMS Directive 408.1).

Without a fee increase, revenue

projections for FY 1998 would remain

constant at $4.695 million. Costs are

projected to increase to $5.628 million.

The shortfall, if allowed to continue,

would translate into an approximate 1.6

month operating reserve at the end of

FY 1998, which is less than Agency

policy requires.

The Agricultural Marketing Service

(AMS) has determined that this action

will not have a significant impact on a

substantial number of small entities, as

defined in the Regulatory Flexibility Act

(5 U.S.C. 601).

The Agricultural Marketing Act of

1946, as amended, authorizes the

Secretary of Agriculture to provide

Federal dairy grading and inspection

services that facilitate marketing and

help consumers obtain the quality of

dairy products they desire. The Act

provides that reasonable fees be

collected from the users of the services

to cover, as nearly as practicable, the

cost of maintaining the program.

FY 1997 revenue was projected to be

$4.733 million and costs to be $5.240

million. The shortfall during the year

reduced the operating reserve from 5.6

months at the beginning of the year to

3.8 months at the end of August, and is

projected to further reduce the operating

reserve to approximately 1.6 months at

the end of FY 1998. With this proposed

increase, assuming a slightly increased

workload, revenue for FY 1998 is

projected to be $5.540 million with

costs totaling $5.628 million. Of these

costs, the general salary increase

represents $110,000 per year and is

scheduled to be effective in January,

1998. Employee salaries and benefits are

major program costs and account for

approximately 70 percent of the total

operating budget. Program travel costs

(of which approximately 80 percent are

reimbursed by the industry), general

contract obligations and Agency

overhead account for another 24 percent

of the budget. Changing workloads are

analyzed on a regular basis in order to

maximize grading assignment efficiency

and to minimize grader and supervisory

costs. Future increases would be

proposed as necessary in following

years to cover any annual increases in

program costs and to maintain the

capital reserve at 4 months.

Since the costs of the grading program

are covered entirely by user fees, it is
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 200 / Thursday, October 16, 1997 / Proposed Rules 53761

essential that fees be increased when

necessary to cover the cost of

maintaining a financially selfsupporting program. The last fee

increase under this program became

effective on January 5, 1997. On the

same effective date, Congress increased

the salaries of Federal employees by 3.0

percent which included locality pay.

Also, there have been normal increases

in other nonpay operating costs that

include utilities, office space, and

reimbursable travel. In addition, recent

congressional action will result in

additional salary increases of

appoximately 3.0 percent in 1998.

Although the program’s operating

reserves were adequate to cover the

January 5, 1997, salary increase, this

will not be the case for 1998 salary

increases, and a fee increase is needed.

The grading program fees need to be

increased to cover the costs associated

with maintaining adequate levels of

service during shifting production

patterns within the dairy industry. The

industry changes include plant

consolidations, geographical shifts of

dairy production areas, and changes in

the types of dairy products being

manufactured and offered for inspection

and grading services. To minimize the

necessary fee increase, the Department

has initiated cost-reduction efforts

which include the reduction of staff and

program overhead.

Proposed Changes

This rule proposes the following

changes in the regulations

implementing the dairy inspection and

grading program:

1. Increase the hourly fee for

nonresident services from $52.00 to

$56.00 for services performed between

6:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. The nonresident

hourly rate is charged to users who

request an inspector or grader for

particular dates and amounts of time to

perform specific grading and inspection

activities. These users of nonresident

services are charged for the amount of

time required to perform the task and

undertake related travel plus travel

costs.

2. Increase the hourly fee for

continuous resident services from

$47.00 to $51.00. The resident hourly

rate is charged to those who are using

grading and inspection services

performed by an inspector or grader

assigned to a plant on a continuous,

year-round resident basis.

Timing of Fee Increase

It is contemplated that the proposed

fee increases would be implemented on

an expedited basis in order to minimize

the period of revenue shortfall.

Accordingly, it is anticipated that the

fee increases, if adopted, would become

effective upon publication, or very soon

after publication, of the final rule in the

Federal Register. An approximate

effective date would be January 4, 1998.

Also, a thirty day comment period is

deemed appropriate in view of the need

to implement any fee increases as early

as possible in FY 1998.

All written submissions made

pursuant to this notice will be made

available for public inspection in the

Dairy Division during regular business

hours.

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 58

Dairy products, Food grades and

standards, Food labeling, Reporting and

recordkeeping requirements.

For the reasons set forth in the

preamble, it is proposed that 7 CFR Part

58 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 Part 58

continues to read as follows:

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 1621–1627.

Subpart A—[Amended]

2. In subpart A, § 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, charges shall be

made for inspection, grading, and

sampling service at the hourly rate of

$56.00 for service performed 6 a.m., 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. A minimum

charge of one-half hour shall be made

for service pursuant to each request or

certificate issued.

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

$51.00 per hour for services performed

during the assigned tour of duty.

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: October 8, 1997.

Lon Hatamiya,

Administrator, Agricultural Marketing

Service.

[FR Doc. 97–27324 Filed 10–15–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–02–P

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection

Service

7 CFR Parts 300 and 319

[Docket No. 97–016–1]

Importation of Tomatoes From France,

Morocco and Western Sahara, Chile,

and Spain

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health

Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Proposed rule.

SUMMARY: We are proposing to amend

the regulations governing fruits and

vegetables to allow tomatoes from

France, Morocco and Western Sahara,

and Chile to be imported into the

United States subject to certain

conditions. The proposed action would

provide importers and consumers in the

United States with additional sources of

tomatoes, while continuing to provide

protection against the introduction and

dissemination of injurious plant pests.

We are also proposing to amend the

regulations pertaining to importation of

tomatoes from Spain by requiring

containers of pink or red tomatoes to be

sealed before shipment if the containers

will transit any other fruit fly

supporting areas while en route to the

United States, and by requiring records

to be kept by Spain’s plant protection

service regarding trapping practices and

fruit fly captures. These actions appear

necessary to prevent the introduction of

exotic fruit flies into the United States.

DATES: Consideration will be given only

to comments received on or before

December 15, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Please send an original and

three copies of your comments to

Docket No. 97–016–1, Regulatory

Analysis and Development, PPD,

APHIS, suite 3C03, 4700 River Road

Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 20737–1238.

Please state that your comments refer to

Docket No. 97–016–1. Comments

received may be inspected at USDA,

room 1141, South Building, 14th Street

and Independence Avenue SW.,

Washington, DC, between 8 a.m. and

4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday,

except holidays. Persons wishing to