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

39632 

Vol. 78, No. 127 

Tuesday, July 2, 2013 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Agricultural Marketing Service 

7 CFR Part 1205 

[Doc. AMS–CN–13–0052] 

Cotton Board Rules and Regulations: 

Adjusting Supplemental Assessment 

on Imports (2013 Amendment) 

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, 

USDA. 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: This proposed rule is a 

companion to the Agricultural 

Marketing Service’s (AMS) direct final 

rule (published today in the ‘‘Rules and 

Regulations’’ section of the Federal 

Register), amending the Cotton Board 

Rules and Regulations by decreasing the 

value assigned to imported cotton for 

calculating supplemental assessments 

collected for use by the Cotton Research 

and Promotion Program. An amendment 

is required to adjust the value assigned 

to imported cotton and the cotton 

content of imported products so that it 

is the same as those paid on 

domestically produced cotton. In 

addition, AMS is updating two 

Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) 

statistical reporting numbers that were 

amended since the last assessment 

adjustment. This proposed rule is a 

companion document to the direct final 

rule published elsewhere in this issue of 

the Federal Register. AMS is publishing 

this amendment as a direct final rule 

without prior proposal because the 

agency is contemplated by statute and 

required by regulation in 7 CFR 

1205.510 and anticipates no significant 

adverse comment. AMS has explained 

its reasons in the preamble of the direct 

final rule. If AMS receives no significant 

adverse comment during the comment 

period, no further action on this 

proposed rule will be taken. If, however, 

AMS receives significant adverse 

comment, AMS will withdraw the direct 

final rule and it will not take effect. In 

that case, AMS will address all public 

comments in a subsequent final rule 

based on this proposed rule. AMS will 

not institute a second comment period 

on this rule. Any parties interested in 

commenting must do so during this 

comment period. 

DATES: Comments must be received on 

or before August 1, 2013. 

ADDRESSES: Written comments may be 

submitted to the addresses specified 

below. All comments will be made 

available to the public. Please do not 

include any personally identifiable 

information (such as name, address, or 

other contact information) or 

confidential business information that 

you do not want publically disclosed. 

All comments may be posted on the 

Internet and can be retrieved by most 

Internet search engines. Comments may 

be submitted anonymously. 

Comments, identified by AMS–CN– 

12–0065, may be submitted 

electronically through the Federal 

eRulemaking Portal at http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Please follow the 

instructions for submitting comments. 

In addition, comments may be 

submitted by mail or hand delivery to 

Cotton Research and Promotion Staff, 

Cotton and Tobacco Programs, AMS, 

USDA, 100 Riverside Parkway, Suite 

101, Fredericksburg, Virginia, 22406. 

Comments should be submitted in 

triplicate. All comments received will 

be made available for public inspection 

at Cotton and Tobacco Programs, AMS, 

USDA, 100 Riverside Parkway, Suite 

101, Fredericksburg, Virginia, 22406. A 

copy of this notice may be found at: 

www.regulations.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Shethir M. Riva, Chief, Research and 

Promotion Staff, Cotton and Tobacco 

Programs, AMS, USDA, 100 Riverside 

Parkway, Suite 101, Fredericksburg, 

Virginia, 22406, telephone (540) 361– 

2726, facsimile (540) 361–1199, or email 

at Shethir.Riva@ams.usda.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: As noted 

above, in the ‘‘Rules and Regulations’’ 

section of today’s Federal Register, the 

direct final rule being published would 

amend the value assigned to imported 

cotton in the Cotton Board Rules and 

Regulations (7 CFR 1205.510(b)(2)) that 

is used to determine the Cotton 

Research and Promotion assessment on 

imported cotton and cotton products. 

The total value of assessment levied 

on cotton imports is the sum of two 

parts. The first part of the assessment is 

based on the weight of cotton 

imported—levied at a rate of $1 per bale 

of cotton, which is equivalent to 500 

pounds, or $1 per 226.8 kilograms of 

cotton. The second part of the import 

assessment (referred to as the 

supplemental assessment) is based on 

the value of imported cotton lint or the 

cotton contained in imported cotton 

products—levied at a rate of five-tenths 

of one percent of the value of 

domestically produced cotton. 

Section 1205.510(b)(2) of the Cotton 

Research and Promotion Rules and 

Regulations provides for assigning the 

calendar year weighted average price 

received by U.S. farmers for Upland 

cotton to represent the value of 

imported cotton. This is so that the 

assessment on domestically produced 

cotton and the assessment on imported 

cotton and the cotton content of 

imported products is the same. The 

source for the average price statistic is 

Agricultural Prices, a publication of the 

National Agricultural Statistics Service 

(NASS) of the Department of 

Agriculture. Use of the weighted average 

price figure in the calculation of 

supplemental assessments on imported 

cotton and the cotton content of 

imported products will yield an 

assessment that is the same as 

assessments paid on domestically 

produced cotton. 

The current value of imported cotton 

as published in 2012 in the Federal 

Register (77 FR 51867) for the purpose 

of calculating assessments on imported 

cotton is $0.014109 per kilogram. Using 

the Average Weighted Priced received 

by U.S. farmers for Upland cotton for 

the calendar year 2012, the direct final 

rule would amend the new value of 

imported cotton to $0.012876 per 

kilogram to reflect the price paid by U.S. 

farmers for Upland cotton during 2012. 

An example of the complete 

assessment formula and how the figures 

are obtained is as follows: 

One bale is equal to 500 pounds. 

One kilogram equals 2.2046 pounds. 

One pound equals 0.453597 

kilograms. 

One Dollar per Bale Assessment 

Converted to Kilograms 

A 500-pound bale equals 226.8 kg. 

(500 × 0.453597). 

$1 per bale assessment equals 

$0.002000 per pound or $0.2000 cents 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS
Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 127 / Tuesday, July 2, 2013 / Proposed Rules 39633 

per pound (1/500) or $0.004409 per kg 

or $0.4409 cents per kg. (1/226.8). 

Supplemental Assessment of 5/10 of 

One Percent of the Value of the Cotton 

Converted to Kilograms 

The 2012 calendar year weighted 

average price received by producers for 

Upland cotton is $0.768 per pound or 

$1.693 per kg. (0.768 × 2.2046). 

Five tenths of one percent of the 

average price equals $0.008467 per kg. 

(1.693 × 0.005). 

Total Assessment 

The total assessment per kilogram of 

raw cotton is obtained by adding the $1 

per bale equivalent assessment of 

$0.004409 per kg. and the supplemental 

assessment $0.008467 per kg., which 

equals $0.012876 per kg. 

The current assessment on imported 

cotton is $0.014109 per kilogram of 

imported cotton. The revised 

assessment in the direct final rule is 

$0.012876, a decrease of $0.001233 per 

kilogram. This decrease reflects the 

decrease in the average weighted price 

of Upland cotton received by U.S. 

Farmers during the period January 

through December 2012. 

Import Assessment Table in section 

1205.510(b)(3) indicates the total 

assessment rate ($ per kilogram) due for 

each HTS number that is subject to 

assessment. This table must be revised 

each year to reflect changes in 

supplemental assessment rates. In the 

direct final rule, AMS amends the 

Import Assessment Table. AMS also 

compared the current import assessment 

table with the U.S. International Trade 

Commission’s (ITC) 2013 HTS and 

information from U.S. Customs and 

Border Protection and identified two 

HTS statistical reporting numbers that 

no longer exist in the HTS and that have 

been changed by ITC. In the direct final 

rule, AMS is amending the following 

HTS statistical reporting numbers for 

consistency with published ITC 

numbers: 

2012 HTS codes Revised 2013 

HTS codes 

5513390015 ...................... 5513390115 

5513390091 ...................... 5513390191 

AMS believes that these amendments 

are necessary to assure that assessments 

collected on imported cotton and the 

cotton content of imported products are 

the same as those paid on domestically 

produced cotton. Accordingly, changes 

reflected in this rule should be adopted 

and implemented as soon as possible 

since it is required by regulation. 

The amendment proposed by this 

notice is the same as the amendment 

contained in the direct final rule. Please 

refer to the preamble and regulatory text 

of the direct final rule for further 

information and the actual text of the 

amendment. Statutory review and 

Executive Orders for this proposed rule 

can be found in the SUPPLEMENTARY

INFORMATION section of the direct final 

rule. 

A 30-day comment period is provided 

to comment on the changes to the 

Cotton Board Rules and Regulations 

proposed herein. This period is deemed 

appropriate because this rule would 

decrease the assessments paid by 

importers under the Cotton Research 

and Promotion Order. An amendment is 

required to adjust the assessments 

collected on imported cotton and the 

cotton content of imported products to 

be the same as those paid on 

domestically produced cotton. 

Accordingly, the change in this rule, if 

adopted, should be implemented as 

soon as possible. 

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 2101–2118. 

Dated: June 25, 2013. 

Rex A. Barnes, 

Associate Administrator. 

[FR Doc. 2013–15625 Filed 7–1–13; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–02–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Aviation Administration 

14 CFR Part 39 

[Docket No. FAA–2013–0541; Directorate 

Identifier 2011–NM–097–AD] 

RIN 2120–AA64 

Airworthiness Directives; The Boeing 

Company Airplanes 

AGENCY: Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA), DOT. 

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking 

(NPRM). 

SUMMARY: We propose to supersede 

three existing airworthiness directives 

(ADs) that apply to The Boeing 

Company Model 757–200, –200PF, and 

–200CB series airplanes. The existing 

ADs currently require repetitive 

inspections and audible tap tests of the 

upper and lower skins of the trailing 

edge wedges on certain slats, and 

related investigative and corrective 

actions if necessary. Since we issued 

these ADs, we have received reports of 

slats disbonding on airplanes on which 

the terminating actions of the existing 

ADs were completed and also reports of 

slats disbonding on airplanes outside of 

the applicability of the existing ADs. 

This proposed AD would require a 

determination of the type of trailing 

edge wedges of the leading edge slats, 

repetitive inspections on certain trailing 

edge wedges for areas of skin-to-core 

disbonding, and corrective actions if 

necessary. This proposed AD would 

also provide an optional terminating 

action for the repetitive inspections. 

This AD would revise the applicability 

of the existing ADs to include additional 

airplanes. We are proposing this AD to 

prevent delamination of the trailing 

edge wedge of the leading edge slats, 

possible loss of pieces of the trailing 

edge wedge assembly during flight, 

reduction of the reduced maneuver and 

stall margins, and consequent reduced 

controllability of the airplane. 

DATES: We must receive comments on 

this proposed AD by August 16, 2013. 

ADDRESSES: You may send comments, 

using the procedures found in 14 CFR 

11.43 and 11.45, by any of the following 

methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to 

http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments. 

• Fax: 202–493–2251. 

• Mail: U.S. Department of 

Transportation, Docket Operations, M– 

30, West Building Ground Floor, Room 

W12–140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., 

Washington, DC 20590. 

• Hand Delivery: Deliver to Mail 

address above between 9 a.m. and 5 

p.m., Monday through Friday, except 

Federal holidays. 

For service information identified in 

this AD, contact Boeing Commercial 

Airplanes, Attention: Data & Services 

Management, P.O. Box 3707, MC 2H–65, 

Seattle, WA 98124–2207; telephone 

206–544–5000, extension 1; fax 206– 

766–5680; Internet https:// 

www.myboeingfleet.com. You may 

review copies of the referenced service 

information at the FAA, Transport 

Airplane Directorate, 1601 Lind Avenue 

SW., Renton, Washington. For 

information on the availability of this 

material at the FAA, call 425–227–1221. 

Examining the AD Docket 

You may examine the AD docket on 

the Internet at http:// 

www.regulations.gov; or in person at the 

Docket Management Facility between 9 

a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through 

Friday, except Federal holidays. The AD 

docket contains this proposed AD, the 

regulatory evaluation, any comments 

received, and other information. The 

street address for the Docket Office 

(phone: 800–647–5527) is in the 

ADDRESSES section. Comments will be 

available in the AD docket shortly after 

receipt. 


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