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

the Superintendent of Documents. Prices of

new books are listed in the first FEDERAL

REGISTER issue of each week.

Rules and Regulations Federal Register

57939

Vol. 65, No. 188

Wednesday, September 27, 2000

MERIT SYSTEMS PROTECTION

BOARD

5 CFR Part 1203

Procedures for Review of Rules and

Regulations of the Office of Personnel

Management

AGENCY: Merit Systems Protection

Board.

ACTION: Final rule.

SUMMARY: The Merit Systems Protection

Board (MSPB or the Board) is amending

its rules of practice and procedure in

this part to reflect a change in a

statutory citation.

EFFECTIVE DATE: September 27, 2000.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Robert E. Taylor, Clerk of the Board,

(202) 653–7200.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Merit

Systems Protection Board is amending

its rules of practice and procedure for

review of rules and regulations of the

Office of Personnel Management to

reflect a change in a statutory citation.

Section 6(a)(2) of the Veterans

Employment Opportunities Act of 1998

(Pub. L. 105–339) redesignated 5 U.S.C.

2302(b)(11), which makes it a prohibited

personnel practice to take or fail to take

a personnel action that would violate

any law, rule, or regulation

implementing or directly concerning the

merit system principles, as 5 U.S.C.

2302(b)(12). That statutory provision is

cited in the Board’s regulations at 5 CFR

1203.11(b)(2), which describes the

additional information that must be

submitted with a request for review of

an OPM regulation where that

prohibited personnel practice is at issue.

Therefore, the Board is amending its

regulations at 5 CFR 1203.11(b)(2) to

conform to the redesignated statutory

provision.

The Board is publishing this rule as

a final rule pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 1204(h).

List of Subjects in 5 CFR Part 1203

Administrative practice and

procedure, Civil rights, Government

employees.

Accordingly, the Board amends 5 CFR

part 1203 as follows:

PART 1203—PROCEDURES FOR

REVIEW OF RULES AND

REGULATIONS OF THE OFFICE OF

PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT

1. The authority citation for part 1203

continues to read as follows:

Authority: 5 U.S.C. 1204(a), 1204(f), and

1204(h).

§ 1203.11 [Amended]

2. Amend § 1203.11 in paragraph

(b)(2) by removing ‘‘5 U.S.C.

2302(b)(11)’’ and adding, in its place, ‘‘5

U.S.C. 2302(b)(12)’’.

Dated: September 21, 2000.

Robert E. Taylor,

Clerk of the Board.

[FR Doc. 00–24737 Filed 9–26–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7400–01–U

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Agricultural Marketing Service

7 CFR Parts 56 and 70

[Docket No. PY–00–002]

RIN 0581–AB89

Increase in Fees and Charges for Egg,

Poultry, and Rabbit Grading

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service,

USDA.

ACTION: Final rule.

SUMMARY: The Agricultural Marketing

Service (AMS) is increasing the fees and

charges for Federal voluntary egg,

poultry, and rabbit grading. These fees

and charges are increased to cover the

increase in salaries of Federal

employees, salary increases of State

employees cooperatively utilized in

administering the programs, and other

increased Agency costs.

EFFECTIVE DATE: October 1, 2000.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

David Bowden, Jr., Chief,

Standardization Branch, (202) 720–

3506.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

The Agricultural Marketing Act

(AMA) of 1946 (7 U.S.C. 1621 et seq.)

authorizes official voluntary grading

and certification on a user-fee basis of

eggs, poultry, and rabbits. The AMA

provides that reasonable fees be

collected from users of the program

services to cover, as nearly as

practicable, the costs of services

rendered.

The AMS regularly reviews these

programs to determine if fees are

adequate and if costs are reasonable.

This rule will amend the schedule for

fees and charges for grading services

rendered to the egg, poultry, and rabbit

industries to reflect the costs currently

associated with them.

A recent review of the current fee

schedule, effective October 1, 1999,

revealed that anticipated revenue would

not adequately cover increasing program

costs. Without a fee increase, FY 2001

revenues for grading services are

projected at $23.7 million, costs are

projected at $24.9 million, and trust

fund balances would be $11.3 million.

With a fee increase, FY 2001 revenues

are projected at $24.3 million, costs are

projected at $24.9 million, and trust

fund balances would be $11.9 million.

Employee salaries and benefits

account for approximately 81 percent of

the total operating budget. A general

and locality salary increase for Federal

employees, ranging from 4.76 to 5.31

percent, depending on locality, became

effective in January 2000 and has

materially affected program costs.

Another general and locality salary

increase estimated at 3.7 percent is

expected in January 2001. Also, from

October 1999 through September 2001,

salaries and fringe benefits of federally

licensed State employees will have

increased by about 6.7 percent.

The impact of these cost increases

was determined for resident,

nonresident, and fee services. To offset

projected cost increases, the hourly

resident and nonresident rate will be

increased by approximately 4 percent

and the fee rate will be increased by

approximately 6 percent. The hourly

rate for resident and nonresident service

covers graders’ salaries and benefits.

The hourly rate for fee service covers

graders’ salaries and benefits, plus the

cost of travel and supervision. The

hourly rate for an appeal grading or

review of a grader’s decision covers the