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

81396 

Vol. 89, No. 195 

Tuesday, October 8, 2024 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Agricultural Marketing Service 

7 CFR Part 800 

[Doc. No. AMS–FGIS–24–0027] 

RIN 0581–AE28 

Formulas for Calculating Hourly and 

Unit Fees for FGIS Services 

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, 

Department of Agriculture (USDA). 

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking. 

SUMMARY: The Agricultural Marketing 

Service (AMS), Federal Grain Inspection 

Service (FGIS or Service) proposes to 

amend its user fee regulations to 

establish standardized formulas the 

agency would use to calculate hourly 

and unit fees. The proposed changes 

would allow FGIS to charge reasonable 

fees sufficient to cover the costs of 

providing official services and reestablish a 3-to 6-month operating 

reserve, as required by the United States 

Grain Standards Act (USGSA). This 

proposed rulemaking would also make 

specified conforming changes and 

minor technical changes to the 

regulations to correct two typographical 

errors. 

DATES: Comments are due on or before 

November 22, 2024. 

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are 

invited to submit written comments on 

this proposed rulemaking. AMS 

encourages comments to be submitted 

through the Federal eRulemaking Portal 

at https://www.regulations.gov. Please 

go to https://www.regulations.gov and 

follow the online instructions at that 

site for submitting comments for AMS– 

FGIS–24–0027. All comments submitted 

in response to this proposal are part of 

the public record and will be posted for 

public viewing without change at 

https://www.regulations.gov. All 

personal identifying information (e.g., 

name, address), confidential business 

information, or otherwise sensitive 

information submitted voluntarily by 

the commenter will be publicly 

accessible. AMS will accept anonymous 

comments (enter ‘‘N/A’’ in the required 

fields if you wish to remain 

anonymous). 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Denise Ruggles, Executive Program 

Analyst, USDA, AMS, FGIS, Telephone: 

816–702–3897, Email: 

Denise.M.Ruggles@usda.gov; or 

Anthony Goodeman, Senior Policy 

Advisor, USDA, AMS, FGIS, Telephone: 

202–720–2091, Email: 

Anthony.T.Goodeman@usda.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This 

proposed rulemaking would amend 

FGIS’s user fee regulations to establish 

standardized formulas the agency would 

use to calculate hourly and unit fees. 

The proposed new formulas, which are 

similar to the standardized formulas 

used in other AMS user-fee funded 

grading programs, would amend the 

regulations at 7 CFR 800.71. The 

formulas proposed here would enable 

the agency to sustain operations and 

comply with the USGSA, which 

requires FGIS to charge fees sufficient to 

cover the costs of the official services it 

provides and to adjust fees annually in 

order to maintain an operating reserve 

of not less than 3 and not more than 6 

months. Prospective customers can find 

the fee schedules posted on AMS’s 

public website at: https://www.ams.

usda.gov/about-ams/fgis-programdirectives. 

Background 

The USGSA authorizes and requires 

the Secretary of Agriculture to charge 

and collect reasonable fees to cover the 

estimated costs for performing official 

grain inspection and weighing services 

(which are mandatory under the Act for 

U.S. grain exports). In 2015, Congress 

amended the USGSA to provide that 

‘‘[i]n order to maintain an operating 

reserve of not less than 3 and not more 

than 6 months, the Secretary shall 

adjust the fees . . . not less frequently 

than annually.’’ (7 U.S.C. 79(j)(4) and 

79a(l)(3)). To comply with these 

provisions, FGIS, then the Grain 

Inspection, Packers, and Stockyards 

Administration (GIPSA), issued 

regulations requiring the agency to 

review and adjust fees annually in order 

to maintain a 3- to 6-month reserve of 

operating expenses. (81 FR 49855). 

Through those regulations, the 

Service determined that maintaining the 

operating reserve at 4.5-months of 

operating expenses would comply with 

the statutory requirement that FGIS 

maintain an operating reserve of 3 to 6 

months. Under the current regulation, in 

years when the operating reserve has 

been sufficient, for each $1 million that 

the reserve’s balance exceeded 4.5 

months, the Service reduced fees by 2 

percent, and no greater than 5 percent. 

Conversely, in years when the operating 

reserve was projected to be insufficient, 

for each $1 million that the balance fell 

short of the 4.5-month target, the 

Service increased fees by 2 percent, 

while also capping such increases at 5 

percent. The current regulations limit 

annual fee increases or decreases to no 

greater than 5 percent. 

The current regulations provide for 

FGIS review and revision of fees 

annually (800.71(b)) to establish the 

tonnage fees (national and local) and 

supervision fees. The annual adjustment 

of fees is based on the operating reserve 

total at the end of the prior fiscal year. 

Fees are increased or decreased to 

maintain an operating reserve of 4.5 

months of operating expenses. 

Historically, the operating reserve 

balance remained higher than the 4.5- 

month target, so FGIS annually reduced 

fees by the maximum amount, 5 

percent, in 2017 (81 FR 96339), 2018 (83 

FR 6451), and 2019 (84 FR 11926); and 

by 2 percent in 2020 (85 FR 8536). 

However, at the close of FY 2020, 

FGIS was operating at a loss of $5 

million and had an operating reserve 

balance below 4.5 months of operating 

expenses. In accordance with current 

regulations, FGIS increased fees by 5 

percent in 2021 (86 FR 1475), 2022 (87 

FR 920), and 2023 (88 FR 18512). These 

annual fee increases were not sufficient 

to both cover operating costs and 

maintain a sufficient operating reserve. 

Because of the cap on how much the 

annual increase could be, 2023 fees 

were lower than those charged in 2016 

(e.g., the contract regular hourly rate in 

2016 was $40.20 and, in 2023, the rate 

was $39.20). A drop in export tonnage 

(and its associated revenue) further 

increased the FGIS deficit. Table 1 

below illustrates the interplay between 

FGIS revenues, reserve balances, and fee 

adjustments over the previous 5 years. 


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Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 195 / Tuesday, October 8, 2024 / Proposed Rules 81397 

TABLE 1—FGIS GRAIN INSPECTION AND WEIGHING NET INCOME AND OPERATING RESERVE FOR THE LAST 5 FISCAL

YEARS

Fiscal year 

Operating Annual export 

tons 1

(million metric 

tons) 

Fee adjustment 

(fiscal year end) 

(%) Net 

(millions) 

Reserve balance 

(millions) (months) 

2019 ............................................... ($6) $15.5 5 108 Reduced 5. 

2020 ............................................... (5.5) 10 3 110 Reduced 2. 

2021 ............................................... (3) 7 2.5 137 Increased 5. 

2022 ............................................... (4) 3 1 124 Increased 5. 

2023 ............................................... (3.5) (0.5) (0.3) 97 Increased 5. 

1The data in this column represent export grain officially inspected and/or weighed (excluding land carrier shipments to Canada and Mexico inspected or weighed by delegated States and designated agencies), and outbound grain officially inspected and/or weighed by FGIS. 

Since 2021, the expected revenue 

from user fees has been lower than FGIS 

anticipated. During this time, the export 

volume (on which FGIS assesses 

tonnage fees) has declined year-overyear: by 10 percent in 2022, and 22 

percent in 2023. Through June 20, 2024, 

export volumes are 5 percent higher 

than the same period in 2023, but still 

6 percent lower than the five-year 

average. Reduced export volume has 

also impacted FGIS’s ability to 

reestablish a sufficient operating 

reserve. This decline has been, in part, 

impacted by natural disasters. Though 

export volumes vary depending on 

weather, prices, and global demand, 

export volumes had risen in consecutive 

years since 2018. This significant 

decline was not expected, and the 

hurricane and severe drought were 

major unexpected events that 

contributed to the sudden decline in 

export volume. 

In August 2021, Hurricane Ida struck 

the coast of Louisiana just prior to the 

high-volume harvest season. The lower 

Mississippi River handles over half of 

U.S. grain exports, and many of the 

major grain exporters sustained damage 

and could not return to normal 

operations for months. Grain export 

inspection volume declined by 10 

percent in 2022, and corresponding 

FGIS user fee revenue dropped by $3 

million in FY 2022. 

Then, in 2022, a severe drought struck 

the midwestern U.S., and parts of the 

Mississippi River, which handles the 

barge traffic that feeds the nation’s 

largest export market, sunk to the lowest 

levels in recorded history, dating back 

143 years. Those record-low river levels 

hindered barge and vessel loading 

operations, and export volumes 

declined by another 22 percent yearover-year from 2022 to 2023. FGIS 

experienced another $3.5 million 

reduction in revenue for the same 

period. In the two years following the 

hurricane and drought, FGIS revenue 

was down a combined $6.5 million. 

Agency operating costs were also 

significantly impacted by the COVID–19 

Pandemic, as well as information 

technology and cost-of-living expenses 

increases. 

While the above discussed conditions 

individually presented significant 

challenges, their unprecedented, 

cumulative effect over a short time span 

limited FGIS’s ability to recover its costs 

and contributed to the depletion of 

FGIS’s reserves, jeopardizing its current 

ability to sustain and provide inspection 

and weighing services. 

2023 Periodic Review 

Under the current regulations, FGIS 

can review all fees to ‘‘ensure they 

reflect the true cost of providing and 

supervising official service.’’ (7 CFR 

800.71(c)). Given the confluence of 

events outside the agency’s control, 

FGIS performed a periodic review in 

2023 that examined the costs of all 

services offered. The review disclosed 

that most FGIS fees were misaligned 

with the actual costs of services and that 

the current regulatory fee formulas did 

not account for all agency costs and 

operating expenses. This misalignment 

and failure to account for actual costs 

and expenses has contributed to the 

current financial situation. The 

operating reserves for grain inspection 

and weighing activities at the end of FY 

2023 were $0. 

New Fee Formulas 

This proposed rulemaking would 

amend FGIS’s user fee regulations at 7 

CFR 800.71 to revise the formulas the 

agency uses to calculate fees annually. 

The proposed changes would enable 

FGIS to assess fees for official services 

that are sufficient to cover its costs and 

maintain a 3- to 6-month operating 

reserve. The proposed changes would 

also provide transparency and 

predictability to the grain industry, and 

allow FGIS to plan effectively for 

staffing, equipment investments, and 

procurement or development of 

inspection technology. 

The formulas in this proposed 

rulemaking are modeled after the 

standardized formulas AMS uses to 

calculate user fees in other user-fee 

funded grading programs (e.g., AMS’s 

dairy, beef, poultry, egg, cotton, and 

specialty crops grading programs). 

Established in 2014 (79 FR 67313), the 

standardized method enables AMS to 

use current information about resource 

needs and projected costs of providing 

services to update rates for services, 

thus better avoiding unexpected 

financial shortfalls or unintended 

reserve surpluses. AMS believes that 

adopting similar formulas to calculate 

user fees for grain inspection and 

weighing services would help FGIS 

adjust the operating reserve account as 

necessary and provide its customers 

with information they need for planning 

purposes. Once the reserve balance has 

reached an appropriate level, FGIS 

anticipates that the standardized 

formulas for fee rates will appropriately 

account for increases or decreases in the 

actual costs of providing inspection 

services. 

The primary purpose of this proposed 

rulemaking is to address gaps in the 

current fee formulas. The current FGIS 

tonnage formula accounts only for fees 

assessed on grain tonnage and 

supervision of official agencies 

(§ 800.71(b)(1) and (b)(2)); it excludes 

direct service costs and unit fees. In 

addition, the current formulas only 

account for an adjustment based on the 

operating reserve balance, and do not 

consider other factors or include any 

projection for the next year’s costs. In an 

environment where costs are generally 

going up (even if slowly), FGIS fees 

compared to costs would lag at least one 

year behind, since the formulas are 

looking at prior years without projection 

toward potential cost increases. The 

formulas proposed in this document 

would address these gaps; specifically, 

the proposed formulas would consider 


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81398 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 195 / Tuesday, October 8, 2024 / Proposed Rules 

1Some rates, such as those for equipment use and 

specialist laboratory services, are based on unique 

cost components that are not accounted for in the 

prior fiscal year’s obligations and service hours. 

the previous year’s expenses and project 

future year costs by including a cost-ofliving adjustment and an operating 

reserve adjustment. These specific 

formulas are described further in this 

section. 

As with other programs, FGIS would 

perform financial analyses each year to 

determine whether the current fees are 

adequate to recover the costs incurred 

by providing grain inspection and 

weighing services. FGIS would use 

historical or prior year cost and 

workload data, along with applicable 

projections, to generate estimates of 

future obligations and revenues, as 

described further below in this 

proposed rulemaking. On the bases of 

these analyses and formulas, FGIS 

would determine the rates necessary to 

sustain grain inspection and weighing 

services. Using the proposed formulas to 

calculate the fees, and reviewing the 

fees on an annual basis would more 

accurately reflect the actual cost of 

providing services each year and would 

provide greater transparency and 

predictability to the grain industry. 

FGIS would publish the fees for each 

upcoming year in an annual user-fee 

notice in the Federal Register. The 

yearly notice would include both the 

per-hour rates and the per-unit rates. 

Updated fees schedules would no longer 

appear in the Code of Federal 

Regulations but would be available on 

the FGIS website. 

Definitions 

In order to provide additional clarity, 

FGIS defines the following terms used 

throughout this document as follows: 

Bad debt—accounts receivable that 

will likely remain uncollectable and 

will be written off. 

Benefits—various non-wage 

compensation provided to employees in 

addition to their normal wages or 

salaries. 

Cost of living—the cost of maintaining 

a certain standard of living based on 

economic assumptions issued by the 

Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB). 

Direct hours—the regular hours 

worked by employees of FGIS. This 

does not include overtime or holiday 

hours. 

Direct pay—monetary compensation 

paid to employees of FGIS for work 

performed. Pay is based on the U.S. 

Office of Personnel Management pay 

rate tables. It may include night and 

Sunday differential costs. 

Field Office administrative costs—the 

costs of management, support, and 

maintenance of a Field Office, 

including, but not limited to, the 

management and administrative support 

personnel, rent, and utilities. This does 

not include any costs directly related to 

providing original or review inspection 

or weighing services. 

Holiday—the legal public holidays 

specified in paragraph (a) of section 

6103, title 5, of the United States Code 

(5 U.S.C. 6103(a)) and any other day 

declared to be a holiday by Federal 

statute or Executive order. Under 

section 6103(b) and Executive Order 

10358 as amended, if the specified legal 

public holiday falls on a Saturday, the 

preceding Friday shall be considered to 

be the holiday, or if the specified legal 

public holiday falls on a Sunday, the 

following Monday shall be considered 

to be the holiday. 

Hour—measure by which grading, 

certification, inspection, classification, 

laboratory, or other services cost is 

based and expenses are charged. 

Indirect costs—the costs of FGIS 

activities that support the services 

provided to the industry and are not 

covered by FGIS tonnage fees. 

National program administrative 

costs—the costs of national management 

and support of official grain inspection 

and/or weighing. This does not include 

the Field Office administrative costs and 

any costs directly related to providing 

service. 

Operating reserve—the amount of 

funds the Service has available to 

provide official grain inspection and/or 

weighing services. 

Operating costs—costs attributed to 

performing grading, inspection, 

certification, or laboratory services 

duties (i.e., training, equipment, local 

travel, and other such costs), plus 

operating reserve, plus indirect costs. 

This term is interchangeable with 

‘‘Operating expenses’’. 

Overtime—hours worked in excess of 

the approved schedule. Work performed 

after the first 8 hours per day or 40 

hours per week is considered overtime. 

Regular rate—the cost per hour for 

work provided in accordance with an 

applicant contract. Under Federal labor 

laws, this rate applies to the first 8 

hours per day, or first 40 hours worked 

per week by AMS employees. 

Unit—any measurement that there is 

one of. For example, one submitted 

sample, one barge, one aflatoxin test or 

one appeal inspection. 

Formulas for the Regular Rate, 

Overtime Rate, and Holiday Rate 

This proposed rulemaking would 

revise FGIS’s regulations at 7 CFR 

800.71 to implement a new formula for 

calculating user fees. FGIS would 

publish the specific inputs used to 

calculate service fees on its public 

website. FGIS would expect to 

announce the actual annual fee rates in 

a Federal Register notice during the first 

quarter of each year and would also 

publish the fees on its website. 

Salaries, hours, and most rates 1 used 

in the formulas would be based on the 

prior fiscal year’s actual costs and hours 

of service. FGIS would round the final 

rates to the nearest $0.10. Currently, 

some fees are charged on a per unit 

basis and others are charged on a per 

hour basis. FGIS would continue to 

provide costs based on a per hour and 

per unit basis to maintain consistency. 

FGIS proposes to establish the 

following formulas: 

Regular rate—The total direct pay of 

FGIS personnel performing grading, 

weighing, laboratory services, and 

equipment testing divided by the total 

direct hours for the previous year, 

which is then multiplied by the next 

year’s percentage of cost-of-living 

increase, plus the benefits rate, plus the 

operating rate, plus the allowance for 

bad debt rate. If applicable, travel 

expenses would be added to the cost of 

providing the service through the 

operating rate or the travel would be 

billed separately. An example of the 

calculation would look like this: [Total 

direct pay divided by total direct hours 

($2,663,407/82,985) = $32.10, 

multiplied by 1.7% (cost-of-living 

increase) = $32.64, + $10.04 (benefits 

rate) + $28.90 (operating rate) + $0.01 

(bad debt allowance rate) = $71.59 

(rounded to $71.60); rounding is done to 

the nearest $0.10.] 

Overtime rate—The total direct pay of 

FGIS personnel performing grading, 

weighing, laboratory services, and 

equipment testing divided by the total 

direct hours for the previous year, 

which is then multiplied by the next 

year’s percentage of cost-of-living 

increase and then multiplied by 1.5, 

plus the benefits rate, plus the operating 

rate, plus the allowance for bad debt 

rate. If applicable, travel expenses 

would be added to the cost of providing 

the service through the operating rate or 

the travel would be billed separately. 

An example of the calculation would 

look like this: [Total direct pay divided 

by total direct hours ($2,663,407/82,985) 

= $32.10, multiplied by 1.7% (cost-ofliving increase) = $32.64, multiplied by 

1.5 (overtime rate) = $48.96 + $10.04 

(benefits rate) + 28.90 (operating rate) + 

$0.01 (bad debt allowance rate) = $87.91 

(rounded to $87.90); rounding is done to 

the nearest $0.10.] 

Holiday rate—The total direct pay of 

FGIS personnel performing grading, 


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Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 195 / Tuesday, October 8, 2024 / Proposed Rules 81399 

weighing, laboratory services, and 

equipment testing divided by the total 

direct hours for the previous year, 

which is then multiplied by the next 

year’s percentage of cost-of-living 

increase and then multiplied by 2, plus 

the benefits rate, plus the operating rate, 

plus the allowance for bad debt rate. If 

applicable, travel expenses would be 

added to the cost of providing the 

service through the operating rate or the 

travel would be billed separately. An 

example of the calculation would look 

like this: [Total direct pay divided by 

total direct hours ($2,663,407/82,985) = 

$32.10, multiplied by 1.7% (cost-ofliving increase) = $32.64, multiplied by 

2 (double time or Holiday rate) = $65.28, 

+ $10.04 (benefits rate) + $28.90 

(operating rate) + $0.01 (bad debt 

allowance rate) = $104.23 (rounded to 

$104.20); rounding is done to the 

nearest $0.10.] 

Formula calculations would be based 

on the prior fiscal year’s actual costs or 

historical costs, workload data, 

projection of expenses impacting 

program costs, cost-of-living increases, 

and inflation. Cost-of-living increases 

and inflation factors would be based on 

economic assumptions from OMB. 

Rather than codifying a reference to an 

OMB budget document in the 

regulations, each year AMS would use 

the most recent economic factors 

released by OMB for budget 

development purposes to determine cost 

impacts for these user fee activities. 

FGIS would continue to calculate 

adjusted fees for each calendar year and 

would publish a corresponding notice 

in the Federal Register and post the fees 

on its public website. The yearly notice 

would include a per-hour rate and, in 

some instances, the equivalent per-unit 

rate. The per-unit rate would be 

provided for functions that historically 

use a unit-cost basis for payment (e.g., 

price per submitted sample). In those 

cases where a per-unit rate is necessary, 

the formulas would have an additional 

step to convert per-hour costs into a perunit rate. 

Formulas for the Benefits Rate, 

Operating Rate, and Allowance for Bad 

Debt Rate 

FGIS would derive the components of 

the formulas above using the previous 

fiscal year’s actual costs, as follows: 

Benefits rate—The total direct benefits 

costs of FGIS personnel performing 

grading, weighing, laboratory services, 

and equipment testing divided by the 

total hours worked (regular, overtime, 

and holiday), which is then multiplied 

by the next calendar year’s percentage 

cost-of-living increase. An example of 

the calculation would look like this 

[Total direct benefits costs/(total regular 

hours + total overtime hours + total 

holiday hours) ($819,207/82,985)] = 

$9.87, multiplied by 1.7% (cost-of-living 

increase) = $10.04.] 

Operating rate—The total operating 

costs (including user fee adjustment) of 

FGIS personnel performing grading, 

weighing, laboratory services, and 

equipment testing divided by total 

hours worked (regular, overtime, and 

holiday), which is then multiplied by 

the percentage of inflation. The 

operating rate would include an 

adjustment for the operating reserve as 

an operating cost. For the purposes of 

this example, FGIS will call out the 

reserve adjustment separately. This 

example will assume $1,000,000 is 

needed for the reserve and assume all 

other operating costs are $42,000,000, 

divided by 630,000 total hours. An 

example of the calculation would look 

like this: [Total operating costs/(total 

regular hours + total overtime hours + 

total holiday hours) ($42,000,000 + 

1,000,000)/630,000 = $69.61, multiplied 

by 2% (inflation) = $69.62.] 

Allowance for bad debt rate—Total 

bad debt for grading, weighing, 

laboratory services, and equipment 

testing divided by total hours worked 

(regular, overtime, and holiday). An 

example of the calculation would look 

like this: [Total bad debt cost/(total 

regular hours + total overtime hours + 

total holiday hours) ($1,000/82,985) = $ 

0.01.] 

As noted above, the proposed 

formulas reflect that the costs of 

providing services include both direct 

and indirect costs. Direct costs include 

the costs of salaries, employee benefits, 

and if applicable, travel and some 

operating costs. Indirect costs include 

the costs of program and AMS activities 

supporting the services provided to the 

industry and are not covered by FGIS 

tonnage fees. For purposes of these 

proposed formulas, indirect costs have 

been included as part of operating costs. 

Conforming Regulatory Changes 

In an interim rule published in the 

June 6, 2024, edition of the Federal 

Register (89 FR 48257), FGIS 

established revised fees for the 

remainder of 2024 (and until new fees 

are established pursuant to a final rule). 

To implement the revised fees, the 

interim rule imposed a stay on §§ 800.71 

and 800.72(b). To amend these sections, 

if finalized, this rulemaking would first 

lift the stay imposed on them by the 

interim rule. 

This proposed rulemaking also 

proposes to make certain conforming 

changes in 7 CFR part 800. Specifically, 

this proposal would restore references 

to §§ 800.71 and 800.72 that were 

amended by the interim rule. In order to 

implement revised fees for 2024, the 

interim rule replaced references to 

§ 800.71, which was stayed, with 

references to a newly added temporary 

section, § 800.74. Because § 800.72(b) 

was also stayed, the interim rule 

replaced a reference to that section in 

§ 800.73(d) with a reference to 

§§ 800.72(a) and 800.74. As this 

rulemaking would revise § 800.71 to 

incorporate the proposed formulas, 

these internal substitutions would no 

longer be needed. Accordingly, if 

finalized, this proposed rulemaking 

would replace references to § 800.74 

with references to § 800.71 in §§ 800.34, 

800.36, 800.156(d)(5), and 800.197(b)(3). 

The proposal, if finalized, would also 

replace the reference to §§ 800.72(a) and 

800.74 in § 800.73(d) with a reference to 

§ 800.72. Finally, because the proposed 

changes to § 800.71 would render 

§ 800.74 obsolete, this proposal also 

removes that section. 

Technical Corrections 

This proposed rulemaking would also 

correct two typographical errors—a 

reference to 5 U.S.C. 6103 and a 

reference to Executive Order 10358—in 

the definition of Holiday in 7 CFR 

800.0—Meaning of terms. These 

corrections do not create new or amend 

existing requirements or interpretations. 

Required Regulatory Analyses 

Executive Orders 12866, 13563, and 

14094 

This proposed rulemaking is being 

issued in conformance with Executive 

Order 12866, ‘‘Regulatory Planning and 

Review,’’ Executive Order 13563, 

‘‘Improving Regulation and Regulatory 

Review,’’ and Executive Order 14094, 

‘‘Modernizing Regulatory Review.’’ 

Executive Orders 12866 and 13563 

direct agencies to assess all costs and 

benefits of available regulatory 

alternatives and, if regulation is 

necessary, to select regulatory 

approaches that maximize net benefits 

(including potential economic, 

environmental, public health and safety 

effects, distributive impacts, and 

equity). Executive Order 13563 

emphasizes the importance of 

quantifying both costs and benefits, 

reducing costs, harmonizing rules, and 

promoting flexibility. Executive Order 

14094 reaffirms, supplements, and 

updates Executive Order 12866 and 

further directs agencies to solicit and 

consider input from a wide range of 

affected and interested parties through a 

variety of means. 


ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with PROPOSALS1
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2For example, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) 

Calculator (https://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl) 

shows prices up 20 percent between January 2020 

and February 2024, and up 31 percent between 

January 2016 and February 2024. 

OMB has designated this proposed 

rulemaking as not significant under 

Executive Orders 12866, 13563, and 

14094. Accordingly, OMB has not 

reviewed this proposed rule under those 

orders. Since grain export volume can 

vary significantly from year to year, 

estimating the impact of future fee 

changes can be difficult. FGIS 

recognizes the need to provide 

predictability to the industry for 

inspection and weighing fees. The 

statutory requirement to maintain an 

operating reserve between 3 to 6 months 

of operating expenses ensures that FGIS 

can adequately cover its costs without 

imposing an undue burden on its 

customers. 

FGIS regularly reviews its user-fee 

financed programs to determine 

whether the fees charged for performing 

official inspection and weighing 

services adequately cover the costs of 

providing those services. Due to 

limitations in the current regulations (7 

CFR 800.71(b)(3)), which permit fee 

increases of no more than 5 percent per 

year, combined with four years of rate 

decreases, and noneconomic factors that 

led to the 2020–2023 period having 

highest inflation in more than 40 years,2

FGIS is now experiencing a deficit 

which is forecasted to grow without 

corrective action. 

This proposed rule would revise the 

formulas under which FGIS adjusts fees 

annually to ensure stability of the 

program. The proposal would also 

ensure that FGIS complies with the 

USGSA, which requires the agency to 

charge fees sufficient to cover its costs 

and maintain a 3- to 6-month operating 

reserve. FGIS will continue to seek out 

cost-saving measures and implement 

appropriate changes to reduce its costs 

to provide alternatives to fee increases. 

This proposed rulemaking is unlikely 

to have an annual effect of $200 million 

or more or adversely affect the economy. 

FGIS has operated at a net loss for five 

consecutive years, and even with the 

maximum fee increases permitted under 

the current regulations, the agency has 

been unable to reduce the deficits and 

rebuild the operating reserve. While 

FGIS’s interim final rule, published 

separately in the Federal Register (89 

FR 48257), addresses the agency’s 

current deficit, this proposed 

rulemaking seeks to prevent additional 

deficits in future years by revising 

FGIS’s user fee regulations to enable 

more accurate calculation of its costs 

and greater flexibility in future rate 

changes. 

FGIS believes that the U.S. grain 

industry would be best served by 

revising the regulation at 7 CFR 800.71, 

which addresses the calculation of fees 

for official inspection and weighing 

services performed by FGIS in the U.S. 

and Canada. The industry is already 

familiar with the annual process for 

evaluating and updating fees and 

anticipates the changes in this proposal. 

This proposed rulemaking, if finalized, 

would allow FGIS to continue providing 

mandatory and voluntary grain 

inspection services that facilitate 

international and domestic trade. This 

proposal would also allow FGIS to 

adjust fees in the future in response to 

unforeseeable climate, logistical, and 

market conditions, and to maintain 

required operating reserves. 

A 45-day comment period is provided 

to allow interested parties to submit 

written comments on this proposed 

rulemaking. 

Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis 

Under the requirements set forth in 

the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) (5 

U.S.C. 601–12), FGIS has considered the 

economic impact of this proposed 

rulemaking on small entities. 

Accordingly, FGIS has prepared this 

initial regulatory flexibility analysis. 

The purpose of the Regulatory 

Flexibility Act is to fit regulatory actions 

to the scale of businesses subject to such 

actions. This ensures that small 

businesses will not be unduly or 

disproportionately burdened. 

The Small Business Administration 

(SBA) defines small businesses by their 

North American Industry Classification 

System Codes (NAICS). This proposed 

rulemaking would affect customers of 

FGIS’s official inspection and weighing 

services in the domestic and export 

grain markets (NAICS code 115114). 

Current guidance from the SBA 

provides a revenue cutoff at $34 million 

to differentiate large and small firms in 

this industry. Fees for the program 

which apply to this industry are 

provided on the FGIS website. 

Under the USGSA, all grain exported 

from the United States must be officially 

inspected and weighed, with few 

exceptions. FGIS provides mandatory 

inspection and weighing services at 29 

export facilities in the United States. 

Five delegated State agencies provide 

mandatory inspection and weighing 

services at 20 facilities. All of these 

facilities are owned by multinational 

corporations, large cooperatives, or 

public entities that do not meet the 

requirements for small entities 

established by the SBA. 

The USGSA requires the registration 

of all persons engaged in the business of 

buying grain for sale in foreign 

commerce. In addition, those persons 

who handle, weigh, or transport grain 

for sale in foreign commerce must also 

register. The regulations found at 7 CFR 

800.30 and 800.31 define a foreign 

commerce grain business as the 

business of regularly buying, handling, 

weighing, or transporting grain for sale 

in foreign commerce totaling 15,000 

metric tons or more during the 

preceding or current calendar year. 

Currently, there are 174 businesses 

registered to export grain, most of which 

are not small businesses. 

Although most exporters are not small 

businesses, most users of FGIS’s official 

inspection and weighing services 

(which include domestic grain 

businesses as well as exporters) meet 

the SBA requirements for small entities. 

Data on user fee receipts from FGIS for 

the past 5 years, plus 2024 to date, show 

a total of 2,123 different accounts over 

this time, though many firms are 

represented by multiple accounts. For 

the purpose of this initial regulatory 

flexibility analysis, FGIS will consider 

accounts as representing establishments, 

with multiple establishments associated 

with larger firms. 

FGIS identified a total of 31 large 

firms, as defined by the SBA firm size 

classification of receipts in excess of $34 

million. FGIS also identified the total 

number of establishments affiliated with 

the 31 large firms to be 133. With a total 

number of establishments of 2,123, this 

means 1,990, or 94 percent, of the 

establishments that paid fees to FGIS 

over the 2019–2024 period are small 

businesses according to the SBA 

definition. 

Table 2 shows that while only 6 

percent of the firms are considered 

large, in total they have contributed the 

vast majority of the fees paid to the 

program. In each of the five previous 

years, and for the year 2024 to date, the 

31 large firms paid between 86 and 90 

percent of all FGIS fees, with an average 

of 89 percent. The remaining 1,990 

establishments paid on average 11 

percent of total fees. 


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TABLE 2—FGIS BILLED ACCOUNTS SUMMARY TABLE FOR REGULATORY FLEXIBILITY ANALYSIS BY SMALL BUSINESS

ADMINISTRATION SIZE CLASSIFICATION

Fiscal year 

All firms Large firms Small firms 

Total fees 

paid 

Total fees 

paid 

Share paid 

(%) 

Total fees 

paid 

Share paid 

(%) 

2019 ..................................................................................... $32,314,848 $27,694,899 86 $4,619,949 14 

2020 ..................................................................................... 30,746,015 27,386,467 89 3,359,547 11 

2021 ..................................................................................... 34,320,110 30,693,195 89 3,626,915 11 

2022 ..................................................................................... 31,663,547 28,183,027 89 3,480,520 11 

2023 ..................................................................................... 27,734,760 25,069,234 90 2,665,526 10 

Oct 2023–Feb 2024 ............................................................. 10,702,712 9,679,943 90 1,022,769 10 

Grand Total ................................................................... 167,481,991 148,706,765 89 18,775,226 11 

The proposed amendments to FGIS’s 

user fee regulations would not change 

the relative burden of fees on small 

businesses. The provisions of this 

proposed rulemaking would apply 

equally to all entities. In addition, use 

of standardized user-fee rate 

calculations would benefit all 

inspection applicants, regardless of size, 

as fees would more closely reflect the 

current costs of inspections, and the fee 

calculation process would be more 

transparent. Through its annual review, 

FGIS would be able to monitor the 

financial status of the grain inspection 

and weighing program to determine 

whether further adjustments are 

necessary. Finally, this proposed 

rulemaking would not impose 

additional reporting, record keeping, or 

other compliance requirements on small 

entities. FGIS has not identified any 

other Federal rules which may 

duplicate, overlap, or conflict with this 

proposed rulemaking. 

Executive Order 12988 

This proposed rulemaking has been 

reviewed under Executive Order 

12988—Civil Justice Reform. It is not 

intended to have retroactive effect. 

Section 18 of the USGSA (7 U.S.C. 87g) 

provides that no State or subdivision 

thereof may require or impose any 

requirements or restrictions concerning 

the inspection, weighing, or description 

of grain under the USGSA. Otherwise, 

this proposed rulemaking would not 

preempt any State or local laws, 

regulations, or policies unless they 

present an irreconcilable conflict with 

this proposed rulemaking. There are no 

administrative procedures that must be 

exhausted prior to any judicial 

challenge to the provisions of this 

proposed rulemaking. 

Executive Order 13175 

This proposed rulemaking has been 

reviewed under Executive Order 

13175—Consultation and Coordination 

with Indian Tribal governments, which 

requires agencies to consider whether 

their rulemaking actions would have 

Tribal implications. FGIS has 

determined that this proposed 

rulemaking is unlikely to have 

substantial direct effects on one or more 

Indian Tribes, on the relationship 

between the Federal Government and 

Indian Tribes, or on the distribution of 

power and responsibilities between the 

Federal Government and Indian Tribes. 

Congressional Review Act 

Pursuant to the Congressional Review 

Act (5 U.S.C. 801–808), the Office of 

Information and Regulatory Affairs 

designated this proposed rulemaking as 

not a major rule, as defined by 5 U.S.C. 

804(2). 

E-Government Act 

USDA is committed to complying 

with the provisions of the EGovernment Act (44 U.S.C. 3601–3616) 

by promoting the use of the internet and 

other information technologies to 

provide increased opportunities for 

citizen access to government 

information and services, and for other 

purposes. 

Paperwork Reduction Act 

This proposed rulemaking would not 

impose any additional reporting or 

recordkeeping requirements on either 

small or large FGIS customers. In 

compliance with the Paperwork 

Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 

chapter 35), FGIS reports and forms are 

periodically reviewed to reduce 

information collection requirements and 

duplication. 

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 800 

Administrative practice and 

procedure, Conflict of interests, Exports, 

Freedom of information, Grains, 

Intergovernmental relations, Penalties, 

Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements. 

For the reasons set forth in the 

preamble, the Agricultural Marketing 

Service proposes to amend 7 CFR part 

800 as follows: 

PART 800—GENERAL REGULATIONS 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 800 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 71–87K, 1621–1627. 

§ 800.0 [Amended] 

■ 2. In § 800.0, in the definition of 

‘‘Holiday’’, remove the text ‘‘Under 

section 610 and Executive Order No. 

10357’’ and add in its place the text 

‘‘Under section 6103 and Executive 

Order No. 10358’’. 

§ 800.34 [Amended] 

■ 3. In § 800.34, in the first sentence, 

remove the citation ‘‘§ 800.74’’ and add 

in its place the citation ‘‘§ 800.71’’. 

§ 800.36 [Amended] 

■ 4. In § 800.36, the last sentence, 

remove the citation ‘‘§ 800.74’’ and add 

in its place the citation ‘‘§ 800.71’’. 

■ 5. Lift the stay on § 800.71 and revise 

§ 800.71 to read as follows: 

§ 800.71 Fees assessed by the Service. 

(a) Official inspection and weighing 

services. The fees described for Direct 

Service in paragraph (a)(1) of this 

section apply to official inspection and 

weighing services performed by the 

Service in the U.S. and Canada. The fees 

described for Supervision in paragraph 

(a)(2) of this section apply to official 

domestic inspection and weighing 

services performed by delegated States 

and designated agencies, including land 

carrier shipments to Canada and 

Mexico. The fees charged to delegated 

States by the Service are set forth in the 

State’s Delegation of Authority 

document. Failure of a delegated State 

or designated agency to pay the 

appropriate fees to the Service within 30 

days after becoming due will result in 

an automatic termination of the 

delegation or designation. The 

delegation or designation may be 

reinstated by the Service if fees that are 


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81402 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 195 / Tuesday, October 8, 2024 / Proposed Rules 

due, plus interest and any further 

expenses incurred by the Service 

because of the termination, are paid 

within 60 days of the termination. 

(1) Direct Service—Fees for official 

inspection and weighing services 

performed by the Service in the United 

States and Canada. For each calendar 

year, the Service will calculate Direct 

Service fees as provided in paragraphs 

(b) and (c) of this section. The Service 

will publish a notice in the Federal 

Register and post Direct Service fees on 

its public website. 

(2) Supervision—Fees for supervision 

of official inspection and weighing 

services performed by delegated States 

and designated agencies in the United 

States. The Service will assess a 

Supervision fee per metric ton of 

domestic U.S. grain shipments 

inspected or weighed, or both, including 

land carrier shipments to Canada and 

Mexico. For each calendar year, the 

Service will calculate Supervision fees 

as provided in paragraph (d) of this 

section. The Service will publish a 

notice in the Federal Register and post 

the Supervision fees on its public 

website. 

(b) Annual review of tonnage fees. For 

each calendar year, the Service will 

review and adjust fees included in this 

section and publish fees each year 

according to the following: 

(1) Tonnage fees. Tonnage fees for 

Direct Service in paragraph (a)(1) of this 

section will consist of the national 

tonnage fee and local tonnage fees and 

the Service will calculate and round the 

fee to the nearest $0.001 per metric ton. 

All outbound grain officially inspected 

and/or weighed by the Field Offices will 

be assessed the national tonnage fee 

plus the appropriate local tonnage fee. 

Export grain officially inspected and/or 

weighed by delegated States and official 

agencies, excluding land carrier 

shipments to Canada and Mexico, will 

be assessed the national tonnage fee 

only. The fees will be set according to 

the following: 

(i) National tonnage fee. The national 

tonnage fee is the national program 

administrative costs for the previous 

fiscal year divided by the average yearly 

tons of export grain officially inspected 

and/or weighed by delegated States and 

designated agencies, excluding land 

carrier shipments to Canada and 

Mexico, and outbound grain officially 

inspected and/or weighed by the 

Service during the previous 5 fiscal 

years. 

(ii) Local tonnage fee. The local 

tonnage fee is the Field Office 

administrative costs for the previous 

fiscal year divided by the average yearly 

tons of outbound grain officially 

inspected and/or weighed by the Field 

Office during the previous 5 fiscal years. 

The local tonnage fee is calculated 

individually for each Field Office. 

(c) Annual review of hourly and unit 

fees. The Service will calculate the rate 

for program services, per hour per 

program employee using the following 

formulas: 

(1) Regular rate. The total direct pay 

of program personnel performing 

grading, weighing, laboratory services, 

and equipment testing divided by the 

total direct hours for the previous year, 

which is then multiplied by the next 

year’s percentage of cost-of-living 

increase, plus the benefits rate, plus the 

operating rate, plus the allowance for 

bad debt rate. If applicable, travel 

expenses will be added to the cost of 

providing the service through the 

operating rate or the travel will be billed 

separately. 

(2) Overtime rate. The total direct pay 

of program personnel performing 

grading, weighing, laboratory services, 

and equipment testing divided by the 

total direct hours for the previous year, 

which is then multiplied by the next 

year’s percentage of cost-of-living 

increase and then multiplied by 1.5, 

plus the benefits rate, plus the operating 

rate, plus the allowance for bad debt 

rate. If applicable, travel expenses will 

be added to the cost of providing the 

service through the operating rate or the 

travel will be billed separately. 

(3) Holiday rate. The total direct pay 

of program personnel performing 

grading, weighing, laboratory services, 

and equipment testing divided by the 

total direct hours for the previous year, 

which is then multiplied by the next 

year’s percentage of cost-of-living 

increase and then multiplied by 2, plus 

the benefits rate, plus the operating rate, 

plus the allowance for bad debt rate. If 

applicable, travel expenses will be 

added to the cost of providing the 

service through the operating rate or the 

travel will be billed separately. 

(4) Benefits rate, operating rate, and 

allowance for bad debt rate. For each 

calendar year, based on previous fiscal 

year costs, the Service will calculate the 

benefits rate, operating rate, and 

allowance for bad debt rate as follows: 

(i) Benefits rate. The total direct 

benefits costs of program personnel 

performing grading, weighing, 

laboratory services, and equipment 

testing divided by the total hours 

(regular, overtime, and holiday) worked, 

which is then multiplied by the next 

calendar year’s percentage cost-of-living 

increase. 

(ii) Operating rate. The total operating 

costs of program personnel performing 

grading, weighing, laboratory services, 

and equipment testing divided by total 

hours (regular, overtime, and holiday) 

worked, which is then multiplied by the 

percentage of inflation. 

(iii) Allowance for bad debt rate. The 

total allowance for bad debt for 

personnel performing grading, 

weighing, laboratory services, and 

equipment testing divided by total 

hours (regular, overtime, and holiday) 

worked. 

(5) Cost of living and inflation factors. 

The Service will use the most recent 

economic factors released by the Office 

of Management and Budget for budget 

development purposes to derive the 

cost-of-living expenses and percentage 

of inflation factors used in the formulas 

in this section. 

(6) Operating reserve adjustment. The 

Service will review the operating 

reserve at the end of each fiscal year and 

adjust the fees as needed to ensure an 

operating reserve of 3 to 6 months of 

expenses. This adjustment is included 

in the calculation for operating cost. 

(d) Annual review of supervision fees. 

Fees for Supervision in paragraph (a)(2) 

of this section will be set according to 

the following: 

(1) Supervision tonnage fee. The 

supervision tonnage fee is the sum of 

the prior fiscal year program costs plus 

an operating reserve adjustment divided 

by the average yearly tons of domestic 

U.S. grain shipments inspected or 

weighed, or both, including land carrier 

shipments to Canada and Mexico during 

the previous 5 fiscal years. If the 

calculated value is zero or a negative 

value, the Service will suspend the 

collection of supervision tonnage fees 

for 1 calendar year. 

(2) Operating reserve adjustment. The 

operating reserve adjustment is the 

supervision program costs for the 

previous fiscal year divided by 2, less 

the end of previous fiscal year operating 

reserve balance. 

(e) Periodic review. The Service will 

periodically review and adjust all Direct 

Service and Supervision fees in 

paragraphs (a)(1) and (2) of this section, 

respectively, as necessary to ensure they 

reflect the true cost of providing and 

supervising official service. This process 

will incorporate any fee adjustments 

from paragraphs (b) through (d) of this 

section. 

(f) Miscellaneous fees for other 

services. For each calendar year, the 

Service will review fees included in this 

section and publish fees in the Federal 

Register and on its public website. 

(1) Registration certificates and 

renewals. The fee for registration 

certificates and renewals will be 

published annually in the Federal 

Register and on the Service’s public 


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Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 195 / Tuesday, October 8, 2024 / Proposed Rules 81403 

website, and the Service will calculate 

the fee using the noncontract hourly rate 

published pursuant to paragraph (a)(1) 

of this section multiplied by 5. If you 

operate a business that buys, handles, 

weighs, or transports grain for sale in 

foreign commerce, or you are in a 

control relationship with respect to a 

business that buys, handles, weighs, or 

transports grain for sale in interstate 

commerce, you must complete an 

application and pay the published fee. 

(2) Designation amendments. The fee 

for amending designations will be 

published annually in the Federal 

Register and on the Service’s public 

website. The Service will calculate the 

fee using the cost of publication plus 1 

hour at the noncontract hourly rate. If 

submitting an application to amend a 

designation, the published fee must be 

paid. 

■ 6. In § 800.72: 

■ a. Lift the stay on paragraph (b); and 

■ b. Revise paragraph (b). 

The revision reads as follows: 

§ 800.72 Explanation of additional service 

fees for services performed in the United 

States only. 

* * * * * 

(b) In addition to a 2-hour minimum 

charge for service on Saturdays, 

Sundays, and holidays, an additional 

charge will be assessed when the 

revenue from the services in 

§ 800.71(a)(1) does not equal or exceed 

what would have been collected at the 

applicable hourly rate. The additional 

charge will be the difference between 

the actual unit fee revenue and the 

hourly fee revenue. Hours accrued for 

travel and standby time shall apply in 

determining the hours for the minimum 

fee. 

§ 800.73 [Amended] 

■ 7. In § 800.73, in paragraph (d), in the 

second sentence remove the citation 

‘‘§§ 800.72(a) and 800.74’’ and add in its 

place the citation ‘‘§ 800.72’’. 

§ 800.74 [Removed] 

■ 8. Remove § 800.74. 

§ 800.156 [Amended] 

■ 9. In § 800.156, in paragraph (d)(5), in 

the last sentence remove the citation 

‘‘§ 800.74’’ and add in its place the 

citation ‘‘§ 800.71’’. 

§ 800.197 [Amended] 

■ 10. In § 800.197, in paragraph (b)(3), 

remove the citation ‘‘§ 800.74’’ and add 

in its place the citation ‘‘§ 800.71’’. 

Melissa Bailey, 

Associate Administrator, Agricultural 

Marketing Service. 

[FR Doc. 2024–23192 Filed 10–7–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Aviation Administration 

14 CFR Part 39 

[Docket No. FAA–2024–2327; Project 

Identifier MCAI–2024–00233–T] 

RIN 2120–AA64 

Airworthiness Directives; Airbus SAS 

Airplanes 

AGENCY: Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA), DOT. 

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking 

(NPRM). 

SUMMARY: The FAA proposes to adopt a 

new airworthiness directive (AD) for 

certain Airbus SAS Model A319–111, 

112, –113, –114, –115, –131, –132, and 

–133 airplanes; A320–211, –212, –214, 

–216, –231, –232, and –233 airplanes; 

and A321–111, –112, –131, –211, –212, 

–213, –231, and –232 airplanes. This 

proposed AD was prompted by a fullscale fatigue test that found cracks on 

the main landing gear (MLG) bay rear 

skin panel at the stringer run-out at 

Frame 46 and Stringer 32 on the lefthand and right-hand sides. This 

proposed AD would require repetitive 

special detailed inspections (SDIs) of 

the affected area for cracking and 

applicable corrective actions, as 

specified in a European Union Aviation 

Safety Agency (EASA) AD, which is 

proposed for incorporation by reference 

(IBR). The FAA is proposing this AD to 

address the unsafe condition on these 

products. 

DATES: The FAA must receive comments 

on this proposed AD by November 22, 

2024. 

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 

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. 

AD Docket: You may examine the AD 

docket at regulations.gov under Docket 

No.-FAA–2024–2327; or in person at 

Docket Operations between 9 a.m. and 

5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except 

Federal holidays. The AD docket 

contains this NPRM, the mandatory 

continuing airworthiness information 

(MCAI), any comments received, and 

other information. The street address for 

Docket Operations is listed above. 

Material Incorporated by Reference: 

• For EASA material identified in this 

proposed AD, contact EASA, KonradAdenauer-Ufer 3, 50668 Cologne, 

Germany; telephone +49 221 8999 000; 

email ADs@easa.europa.eu; website 

easa.europa.eu. You may find this 

material on the EASA website at 

ad.easa.europa.eu. It is also available at 

regulations.gov under Docket No. FAA– 

2024–2327. 

• You may view this material at the 

FAA, Airworthiness Products Section, 

Operational Safety Branch, 2200 South 

216th St., Des Moines, WA. For 

information on the availability of this 

material at the FAA, call 206–231–3195. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tim 

Dowling, Aviation Safety Engineer, 

FAA, 1600 Stewart Avenue, Suite 410, 

Westbury, NY 11590; telephone 206– 

231–3667; email: timothy.p.dowling@

faa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Comments Invited 

The FAA invites you to send any 

written relevant data, views, or 

arguments about this proposal. Send 

your comments to an address listed 

under the ADDRESSES section. Include 

‘‘Docket No. FAA–2024–2327; Project 

Identifier MCAI–2024–00233–T’’ at the 

beginning of your comments. The most 

helpful comments reference a specific 

portion of the proposal, explain the 

reason for any recommended change, 

and include supporting data. The FAA 

will consider all comments received by 

the closing date and may amend this 

proposal because of those comments. 

Except for Confidential Business 

Information (CBI) as described in the 

following paragraph, and other 

information as described in 14 CFR 

11.35, the FAA will post all comments 

received, without change, to 

regulations.gov, including any personal 

information you provide. The agency 

will also post a report summarizing each 

substantive verbal contact received 

about this NPRM. 

Confidential Business Information 

CBI is commercial or financial 

information that is both customarily and 

actually treated as private by its owner. 

Under the Freedom of Information Act 

(FOIA) (5 U.S.C. 552), CBI is exempt 

from public disclosure. If your 

comments responsive to this NPRM 

contain commercial or financial 

information that is customarily treated 

as private, that you actually treat as 


ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with PROPOSALS1