This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains documents other than rules or

proposed rules that are applicable to the

public. Notices of hearings and investigations,

committee meetings, agency decisions and

rulings, delegations of authority, filing of

petitions and applications and agency

statements of organization and functions are

examples of documents appearing in this

section.

Notices Federal Register

58503

Vol. 65, No. 190

Friday, September 29, 2000

1Those commercial vessels subject to inspections

are specified in 7 CFR, chapter III, part 330 or in

9 CFR, chapter I, subchapter D of the regulations.

Exemptions to these user fees are specified in

§ 354.3(b)(2).

2Those commercial trucks subject to inspections

are specified in 7 CFR, chapter III, part 330 or in

9 CFR, chapter I, subchapter D of the regulations.

Exemptions to these user fees are specified in

§ 354.3(c)(2).

3Section 354.3(c)(2)(i) of the regulations states

that commercial trucks entering the Customs

territory of the United States from Canada are

exempt from paying an APHIS user fee.

4Those commercial railroad cars subject to

inspections are specified in 7 CFR, chapter III, part

330 or in 9 CFR, chapter I, subchapter D of the

regulations. Exemptions to these user fees are

specified in § 354.3(d)(2).

5Those commercial aircraft subject to inspections

are specified in 7 CFR, chapter III, part 330 or in

9 CFR, chapter I, subchapter D of the regulations.

Exemptions to these user fees are specified in

§ 354.3(e)(2).

6Those international airline passengers subject to

inspections are specified in 7 CFR, chapter III, part

Continued

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection

Service

[Docket No. 00–092–1]

User Fees; Agricultural Quarantine and

Inspection Services

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health

Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: This notice pertains to user

fees charged for agricultural quarantine

and inspection services we provide in

connection with commercial vessels,

commercial trucks, commercial railroad

cars, commercial aircraft, and

international airline passengers arriving

at ports in the Customs territory of the

United States. The purpose of this

notice is to remind the public of the

user fees for fiscal year 2001 (October 1,

2000, through September 30, 2001).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For

information concerning program

operations, contact Mr. Colonel

Locklear, Senior Staff Officer, PPQ,

APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit 60,

Riverdale, MD 20737–1236; (301) 734–

8372.

For information concerning rate

development, contact Ms. Donna Ford,

User Fees Section Head, FSSB, BASEU,

MRP–BS, APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit

54, Riverdale, MD 20737–1232; (301)

734–8351.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

The regulations in 7 CFR 354.3

(referred to below as the regulations)

contain provisions for the collection of

user fees for agricultural quarantine and

inspection (AQI) services provided by

the Animal and Plant Health Inspection

Service (APHIS). These services

include, among other things, inspecting

commercial vessels, commercial trucks,

commercial railroad cars, commercial

aircraft, and international airline

passengers arriving at ports in the

Customs territory of the United States

from points outside the United States.

(The Customs territory of the United

States is defined in the regulations as

the 50 States, the District of Columbia,

and Puerto Rico.)

These user fees are authorized by

section 2509(a) of the Food, Agriculture,

Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 (21

U.S.C. 136a). This statute, known as the

Farm Bill, was amended by section 504

of the Federal Agriculture Improvement

and Reform Act of 1996 (Pub. L. 104–

127, 110 Stat. 888) on April 4, 1996.

On July 24, 1997, we published in the

Federal Register (62 FR 39747–39755,

Docket No. 96–038–3) a final rule that

amended the regulations by adjusting

our user fees for servicing commercial

vessels, commercial trucks, commercial

railroad cars, commercial aircraft, and

international airline passengers arriving

at ports in the Customs territory of the

United States from points outside the

United States and by setting user fees

for these services for fiscal years 1997

through 2002. Additionally, on

November 16, 1999, we published in the

Federal Register (64 FR 62089–62096,

Docket No. 98–073–2) another final rule

that amended the regulations by

updating some of the user fees. When

we established the user fees for fiscal

years 1997 through 2002, we stated that,

prior to the beginning of the fiscal year,

we would publish a notice to remind

the public of the user fees for that fiscal

year. This document provides notice to

the public of the user fees for fiscal year

2001.

We inspect commercial vessels of 100

net tons or more.1 As specified in

§ 354.3(b)(1), our user fee for inspecting

commercial vessels will be $474.50

during fiscal year 2001 (October 1, 2000,

through September 30, 2001).

We inspect commercial trucks 2

entering the Customs territory of the

United States. Commercial trucks may

pay the APHIS user fee each time they

enter the Customs territory of the United

States from Mexico 3 or purchase a

prepaid APHIS permit for a calendar

year. Since commercial trucks are also

subject to Customs user fees, our

regulations provide that commercial

trucks must prepay the APHIS user fee

if they are prepaying the Customs user

fee. In that case, the required APHIS

user fee is 20 times the user fee for each

arrival and is valid for an unlimited

number of entries during the calendar

year (see § 354.3(c)(3)(i) of the

regulations). The truck owner or

operator, upon payment of the APHIS

and the Customs user fees, receives a

decal to place on the truck windshield.

This is a joint decal, indicating that both

the Customs and APHIS user fees for the

truck have been paid for that calendar

year. As specified in § 354.3(c)(1), our

user fee for inspecting commercial

trucks will be $4.50 for individual

arrivals and, as specified in

§ 354.3(c)(3)(i), $90 for a calendar year

2001 decal.

We inspect commercial railroad cars 4

entering the Customs territory of the

United States. These user fees may be

paid per inspection or prepaid. Prepaid

user fees cover 1 calendar year’s worth

of AQI inspections. As specified in

§ 354.3(d)(1), the user fee for this service

will be $7.00 per loaded commercial

railroad car for each arrival or, if user

fees are prepaid, $140 (20 times the

individual arrival fee) for each loaded

railcar during fiscal year 2001 (October

1, 2000, through September 30, 2001).

We also inspect international

commercial aircraft 5 arriving at ports in

the Customs territory of the United

States. As specified in § 354.3(e)(1), the

user fee will be $64.75 during fiscal year

2001 (October 1, 2000, through

September 30, 2001).

We also inspect international airline

passengers 6 arriving at ports in the

58504 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 190 / Friday, September 29, 2000 / Notices

330 or in 9 CFR, chapter I, subchapter D of the

regulations. Exemptions to these user fees are

specified in § 354.3(f)(2).

Customs territory of the United States.

As specified in § 354.3(f)(1), the

international airline passenger user fee

will be $3.00 during fiscal year 2001

(October 1, 2000, through September 30,

2001).

Done in Washington, DC, this 25th day of

September 2000.

Craig A. Reed,

Administrator, Animal and Plant Health

Inspection Service.

[FR Doc. 00–25021 Filed 9–28–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–34–U

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Grain Inspection, Packers and

Stockyards Administration (GIPSA).

[00–B]

Pilot Programs for Official Agencies

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: GIPSA is extending the

current three pilot programs (timely

service, open season, and barge)

pending changes to the current statutory

authority for such programs. These pilot

programs were established in 1995 and

1998 to allow more than one official

agency to provide official services

within a single geographic area. These

programs are scheduled to end on

September 30, 2000.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Neil

E. Porter, telephone 202–720–8262.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Sections

7(f) and 7A of the United States Grain

Standards Act (Act) (7 U.S.C. 79(f)) and

(7 U.S.C. 79a) were amended by the

United States Grain Standards Act

Amendments of 1993 (Public Law 103–

156) on November 24, 1993, to authorize

GIPSA’s Administrator to conduct pilot

programs allowing more than one

official agency to provide official

services within a single geographic area

without undermining the declared

policy of the Act. The purpose of the

pilot programs is to evaluate the impact

of allowing more than one official

agency to provide official services

within a single geographic area. These

pilot programs are scheduled to end on

September 30, 2000.

On September 27, 1995, GIPSA

published a Federal Register Notice (60

FR 49828), announcing two new pilot

programs (timely service and open

season) to begin on November 1, 1995.

The timely service pilot program

allowed official agencies to provide

official services to facilities outside their

assigned geographic area on a case-bycase basis when these services could not

be provided in a timely manner by the

official agency designated to serve the

area. The open season pilot program

allowed official agencies to offer their

services to facilities outside their

assigned geographic area where no

official sample-lot or official weighing

services had been provided in the

previous 6 months. On October 3, 1996,

GIPSA published a Federal Register

Notice (61 FR 51674), which reduced

the qualification period to 3 months.

On January 15, 1998, GIPSA

published a Federal Register Notice (63

FR 2360), announcing a pilot program

allowing barges on all rivers to be

sampled by probe by any official

agency. This barge pilot option was

initiated on March 1, 1998.

On October 1, 1998, GIPSA published

a Federal Register Notice (63 FR 52682)

extending the three pilot programs to

September 30, 2000.

The pilot programs are extended

pending changes to the current statutory

authority for the pilot programs. GIPSA

will continue to monitor and evaluate

the pilot programs. If, at any time,

GIPSA determines that any pilot

program is having a negative impact on

the offical system or is not working as

intended, the program may be modified

or discontinued.

Authority: Pub. L. 94–582, 90 Stat. 2867,

as amended (7 U.S.C. 71 et seq.).

Dated: September 22, 2000.

Neil E. Porter,

Director, Compliance Division.

[FR Doc. 00–24925 Filed 9–28–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–EN–U

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Rural Utilities Service

Publication of Depreciation Rates

AGENCY: Rural Utilities Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: The Rural Utilities Service

(RUS) hereby announces the

depreciation rates for

telecommunications plant for the period

ended December 31, 1999.

DATES: These rates are effective for the

period beginning January 1, 1999 and

ending December 31, 1999.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Jonathan P. Claffey, Deputy Assistant

Administrator, Telecommunications

Program, Rural Utilities Service, 1400

Independence Avenue, SW., Room

4056, STOP 1590, Washington, DC

20250–1590. Telephone: (202) 720–

9556.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section

206(a)(3) of the Rural Electrification Act

of 1936 requires RUS to annually

determine and publish average

depreciation rates used by its borrowers

for the purposes of depreciating

telecommunications plant. The

following chart provides those rates,

compiled by RUS for the reporting

period ended December 31, 1999:

AVERAGE DEPRECIATION RATES OF

RUS BORROWERS BY EQUIPMENT

CATEGORY FOR PERIOD ENDED DECEMBER 31, 1999:

Telecommunications plant

category

Depreciation

rate (percent)

1. Land and Support Assets:

a. Motor vehicles ............... 15.00

b. Aircraft ........................... 10.00

c. Special purpose vehicles ................................ 12.00

d. Garage and other work

equipment ...................... 10.00

e. Buildings ....................... 3.01

f. Furniture and office

equipment ...................... 10.00

g. General purpose computers ............................. 18.57

2. Central Office Switching:

a. Digital (a) ...................... 8.33

b. Analog & electro-mechanical ......................... 10.00

c. Operator systems .......... 8.86

d. Radio systems .............. 9.50

e. Circuit equipment (b) .... 10.00

3. Information Origination/

Termination:

a. Station apparatus .......... 11.59

b. Customer premises

equipment ...................... 10.00

c. Large private branch exchanges ......................... 12.50

d. Public telephone terminal equipment ............ 11.10

e. Other terminal equipment ............................... 10.55

4. Cable and Wire Facilities:

a. Aerial cable-Poles ......... 6.67

a. Aerial cable-metal ......... 6.00

b. Aerial cable-fiber ........... 5.00

c. Underground cablemetal .............................. 4.81

d. Underground cable-fiber 4.82

e. Buried cable-metal ........ 5.00

f. Buried cable-fiber ........... 5.00

g. Conduit systems ........... 3.02

h. Other ............................. 7.21

Christopher A. McLean,

Administrator, Rural Utilities Service.

[FR Doc. 00–25020 Filed 9–28–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–15–U