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

21684 

Vol. 77, No. 70 

Wednesday, April 11, 2012 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Agricultural Marketing Service 

7 CFR Part 28 

[Doc. #AMS–CN–12–0005] 

RIN 0581–AD23 

User Fees for 2012 Crop Cotton 

Classification Services to Growers 

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, 

USDA. 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: The Agricultural Marketing 

Service (AMS) is proposing to maintain 

user fees for cotton producers for 2012 

crop cotton classification services under 

the Cotton Statistics and Estimates Act 

at the same level as in 2011. These fees 

are also authorized under the Cotton 

Standards Act of 1923. The 2011 crop 

user fee was $2.20 per bale, and AMS 

proposes to continue the fee for the 

2012 cotton crop at that same level. This 

proposed fee and the existing reserve 

are sufficient to cover the costs of 

providing classification services for the 

2012 crop, including costs for 

administration and supervision. 

DATES: Comments must be received on 

or before April 26, 2012. 

ADDRESSES: Interested persons may 

comment on the proposed rule using the 

following procedures: 

• Internet: http://www.regulations.

gov. 

• Mail: Comments may be submitted 

by mail to: Darryl Earnest, Deputy 

Administrator, Cotton & Tobacco 

Programs, AMS, USDA, 3275 Appling 

Road, Room 11, Memphis, TN 38133. 

Comments should be submitted in 

triplicate. All comments should 

reference the docket number and the 

date and the page of this issue of the 

Federal Register. All comments will be 

available for public inspection during 

regular business hours at Cotton & 

Tobacco Program, AMS, USDA, 3275 

Appling Road, Memphis, TN 38133. A 

copy of this notice may be found at: 

www.ams.usda.gov/cotton/rulemaking.

htm. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Darryl Earnest, Deputy Administrator, 

Cotton & Tobacco Programs, 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 

This proposed 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). 

Executive Order 12988 

This proposed 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 25,000 cotton growers in 

the U.S. who voluntarily use the AMS 

cotton classing services annually, and 

the majority of these cotton growers are 

small businesses under the criteria 

established by the Small Business 

Administration (13 CFR 121.201). 

Continuing the user fee at the 2011 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. (The 2011 user fee for 

classification services was $2.20 per 

bale; the fee for the 2012 crop would be 

maintained at $2.20 per bale; the 2012 

crop is estimated at 14,475,000 bales); 

(2) The fee for services will not affect 

competition in the marketplace; 

(3) The use of classification services is 

voluntary. For the 2011 crop, 15,000,000 

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 2010 crop of 

0.8212 cents per pound, 500 pound 

bales of cotton are worth an average of 

$410 each. The proposed user fee for 

classification services, $2.20 per bale, is 

less than one 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 

proposed rule have been previously 

approved by OMB and were assigned 

OMB control number 0581–AC43. 

Fees for Classification Under the Cotton 

Statistics and Estimates Act of 1927 

This proposed rule would maintain a 

2011 user fee of $2.20 per bale charged 

to producers for cotton classification for 

the 2012 cotton crop. This fee is set at 

the same level as the 2011 user fee. The 

2012 user fee was set in accordance to 

section 14201 of the Food, 

Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 

(Pub. L. 110–234) (2008 Farm Bill). 

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 

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 


wreier-aviles on DSK5TPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS
Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 70 / Wednesday, April 11, 2012 / Proposed Rules 21685 

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 fee 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 of section 

14201, a user fee (dollar amount per 

bale classed) is proposed for the 2012 

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 while meeting 

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 proposed to be charged 

cotton producers for cotton 

classification in 2012 is $2.20 per bale, 

which is the same fee charged for the 

2011 crop. This fee is based on the 

preseason projection that 14,475,000 

bales will be classed by the United 

States Department of Agriculture during 

the 2012 crop year. 

Accordingly, § 28.909, paragraph (b) 

would reflect 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 would continue 

to be applied to voluntary centralized 

billing and collecting agents as specified 

in § 28.909(c). 

Growers or their designated agents 

receiving classification data would 

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 would remain at 5 cents per 

bale. The fee in § 28.910 (b) for an 

owner receiving classification data from 

the National database would remain at 

5 cents per bale, and the minimum 

charge of $5.00 for services provided per 

monthly billing period would remain 

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 will remain the same at 15 

cents per bale or a minimum of $5.00 

per sheet. 

The fee for review classification in 

§ 28.911 would be maintained at $2.20 

per bale. 

The fee for returning samples after 

classification in § 28.911 would remain 

at 50 cents per sample. 

A 15-day comment period is provided 

for public comments. This period is 

appropriate because user fees are not 

changing and it is anticipated that the 

proposed fees, if adopted, would be 

made effective for the 2012 cotton crop 

on July 1, 2012. 

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 28 

Administrative practice and 

procedure, Cotton, Cotton samples, 

Grades, Market news, Reporting and 

recordkeeping requirements, Standards, 

Staples, Testing, Warehouses. 

For the reasons set forth in the 

preamble, 7 CFR part 28 is proposed to 

be amended to read 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: April 4, 2012. 

Robert C. Keeney, 

Acting Administrator, Agricultural Marketing 

Service. 

[FR Doc. 2012–8677 Filed 4–10–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–02–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Grain Inspection, Packers and 

Stockyards Administration 

7 CFR Part 810 

RIN 0580–AB12 

United States Standards for Wheat 

AGENCY: Grain Inspection, Packers and 

Stockyards Administration, USDA. 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: The Grain Inspection, Packers 

and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) 

is proposing to revise the U.S. Standards 

for Wheat (wheat standards) under the 

U.S. Grain Standards Act (USGSA) to 

change the definition of Contrasting 

classes (CCL) in Hard White wheat and 

change the grade limits for shrunken 

and broken kernels (SHBN). GIPSA 

believes that these proposed changes 

will help to facilitate the marketing of 

wheat. 

DATES: Comments must be received on 

or before June 11, 2012. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit written or 

electronic comments on this proposed 

rule to: 

• Mail: Tess Butler, GIPSA, USDA, 

STOP 3642, 1400 Independence Avenue 

SW., Room 2530–B, Washington, DC 

20250–3604. 

• Fax: (202) 690–2173 

• Internet: Go to http://www.

regulations.gov and follow the on-line 

instruction for submitting comments. 

All comments will become a matter of 

public record and should be identified 

as ‘‘U.S. wheat standards proposed rule 

comments,’’ making reference to the 

date and page number of this issue of 

the Federal Register. All comments 

received become the property of the 

Federal government, are a part of the 

public record, and will generally be 

posted to www.regulations.gov without 

change. If you send an email comment 

directly to GIPSA without going through 

www.regulations.gov, or you submit a 

comment to GIPSA via fax, the 

originating email address or telephone 

number will be automatically captured 

and included as part of the comment 

that is placed in the public docket and 

made available on the Internet. Also, all 

personal identifying information (for 

example, name, address, etc.) 

voluntarily submitted by the commenter 

may be publicly accessible. Do not 

submit confidential business 

information or otherwise sensitive or 

protected information. 

Electronic submissions should avoid 

the use of special characters, avoid any 

form of encryption, and be free of any 


wreier-aviles on DSK5TPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS