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

18898 

Vol. 78, No. 60 

Thursday, March 28, 2013 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Agricultural Marketing Service 

7 CFR Part 28 

[AMS–CN–12–0074] 

RIN 0581–AD30 

User Fees for 2013 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 2013 

crop cotton classification services under 

the Cotton Statistics and Estimates Act 

at the same level as in 2012. These fees 

are also authorized under the Cotton 

Standards Act of 1923. The 2012 crop 

user fee was $2.20 per bale, and AMS 

proposes to continue the fee for the 

2013 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 

2013 crop, including costs for 

administration and supervision. 

DATES: Comments must be received on 

or before April 12, 2013. 

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 2012 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 2012 user fee for 

classification services was $2.20 per 

bale; the fee for the 2013 crop would be 

maintained at $2.20 per bale; the 2013 

crop is estimated at 13,250,000 bales); 

(2) The fee for services will not affect 

competition in the marketplace; 

(3) The use of classification services is 

voluntary. For the 2012 crop, 16,240,000 

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 2011 crop of 

0.885 cents per pound, 500 pound bales 

of cotton are worth an average of 

$442.50 each. The proposed user fee for 

classification services, $2.20 per bale, is 

less than one half 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 0581–0008, Cotton 

Classing, Testing, and Standards. 

Fees for Classification Under the Cotton 

Statistics and Estimates Act of 1927 

This proposed rule would maintain a 

2012 user fee of $2.20 per bale charged 

to producers for cotton classification for 

the 2013 cotton crop. This fee is set at 

the same level as the 2012 user fee. The 

2013 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 

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Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 60 / Thursday, March 28, 2013 / Proposed Rules 18899 

cotton industry. At pages 313–314, the 

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 2013 

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. Furthermore, 

the operating reserve is expected to 

meet 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 2013 is $2.20 per bale, 

which is the same fee charged for the 

2012 crop. This fee is based on the 

preseason projection that 13,250,000 

bales will be classed by the United 

States Department of Agriculture during 

the 2013 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 2013 cotton crop 

on July 1, 2013. 

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 28 

Administrative practice and 

procedure, Cotton, Cotton samples, 

Grades, Market news, Reporting and 

record keeping 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. 51–65; 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: March 22, 2013. 

David R. Shipman, 

Administrator, Agricultural Marketing 

Service. 

[FR Doc. 2013–07181 Filed 3–27–13; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–02–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Agricultural Marketing Service 

7 CFR Part 905 

[Doc. No. AO–13–0163; AMS–FV–12–0069; 

FV13–905–1] 

Oranges, Grapefruit, Tangerines, and 

Tangelos Grown in Florida; Hearing on 

Proposed Amendment of Marketing 

Order No. 905 

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, 

USDA. 

ACTION: Notice of hearing on proposed 

rulemaking. 

SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given of a 

public hearing to receive evidence on 

proposed amendments to Marketing 

Order No. 905 (order), that regulates the 

handling of oranges, grapefruit, 

tangerines, and tangelos (citrus) grown 

in Florida. Nine amendments are 

proposed by the Citrus Administrative 

Committee (committee), which is 

responsible for local administration of 

the order. These proposed amendments 

would: authorize regulation of new 

varieties and hybrids of citrus fruit, 

authorize the regulation of intrastate 

shipments of fruit, revise the process for 

redistricting the production area, change 

the term of office and tenure 

requirements for committee members, 

authorize mail balloting procedures for 

committee membership nominations, 

increase the capacity of financial reserve 

funds, authorize pack and container 

requirements for domestic shipments 

and authorize different regulations for 

different markets, eliminate the use of 

separate acceptance statements in the 

nomination process, and require 

handlers to register with the committee. 

In addition, the Agricultural 

Marketing Service (AMS) proposes to 

make any such changes as may be 

necessary to the order to conform to any 

amendment that may result from the 

hearing. These proposed amendments 

are intended to update the order to 

reflect past changes in the industry and 

potential future changes, and to improve 

the operation and administration of the 

order. 

DATES: The hearing dates are April 24, 

2013, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.; and 

continuing on April 25, 2013, at 9:00 

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