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[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 247 (Friday, December 23, 2011)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 80278-80280]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-32926]

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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Agricultural Marketing Service

7 CFR Parts 27 and 28

[Doc.  AMS-CN-11-0066]
RIN 0581-AD19

Revision of Cotton Classification Procedures for Determining 
Cotton Leaf Grade

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA.

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) is proposing to 
revise the procedure for determining the official leaf grade for Upland 
and Pima cotton. The leaf grade is a part of the official 
classification which denotes cotton fiber quality used in cotton 
marketing and manufacturing of cotton products. Currently, the leaf 
grade is determined by visual examination and comparison to the 
Official Cotton Standards by qualified cotton classers. This proposed 
revision would replace the classer's leaf determination with the 
instrument leaf measurement made by the High Volume Instrument (HVI) 
system used in official cotton classification for Upland Cotton since 
1991.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before January 9, 2012.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons may comment on the proposed rule using 
the following procedures:
    Internet: http://www.regulations.gov.
    Mail: Darryl Earnest, Deputy Administrator, Cotton & Tobacco 
Programs, AMS, USDA, 3275 Appling Road, Memphis, TN 38133. Comments 
should be submitted in triplicate. All comments should reference the 
document number, date, and page number of this issue of the Federal 
Register.
    All comments will be available for public inspection at Cotton & 
Tobacco Program, AMS, USDA, 3275 Appling Road, Memphis, TN 38133 during 
regular business hours. A copy of this

[[Page 80279]]

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, Memphis, TN 
38133. Telephone (901) 384-3060, facsimile (901) 384-3021, or email 
darryl.earnest@ams.usda.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 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 which 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 entities.
    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, merchants, and textile manufacturers in the U.S. who 
voluntarily use the AMS cotton classing services annually under the 
United States Cotton Standards Act of 1923, as amended (7 U.S.C. 51-
65), the Cotton Statistics and Estimates Act of 1927 (7 U.S.C. 471-
476), and the U.S. Cotton Futures Act, [7 U.S.C. 15b, 7 U.S.C. 4736, 7 
U.S.C. 1622(g)]. The majority of these cotton growers are small 
businesses under the criteria established by the Small Business 
Administration (13 CFR 121.201). The change in procedures will not 
significantly affect small businesses as defined in the RFA because:
    (1) Classification will continue to be based upon the Official 
Standards for Upland Cotton Color Grade established and maintained by 
the Department;
    (2) The HVI measurement has been a part of the official 
classification record since 1991. Implementation of the revision for 
all cotton classification will not affect competition in the 
marketplace or adversely impact on cotton classification fees; and
    (3) The use of cotton classification services is voluntary. For the 
2010 crop, 17.6 million bales were produced by growers, and virtually 
all of them were voluntarily submitted for USDA classification. Futures 
classification services provided for merchants during the same period 
totaled approximately 680 thousand bales.

Paperwork Reduction Act

    In compliance with Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 
regulations (5 CFR part 1320) which implement the Paperwork Reduction 
Act (PRA) (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520) the information collection requirements 
contained in the regulation to be amended is currently approved under 
OMB control number 0581-0008, Cotton Classing, Testing and Standards.

Background

    AMS Cotton and Tobacco Programs propose to revise the procedures 
for providing cotton leaf grade classification services as authorized 
by the United States Cotton Standards Act of 1923, as amended, the 
Cotton Statistics and Estimates Act of 1927, and the U.S. Cotton 
Futures Act. While measurements for other quality factors are performed 
by precise HVIs, manual determinations for leaf grade and extraneous 
matter are currently part of the official USDA cotton classification. 
Accurate assignment of leaf grade is of economic importance to all 
participants along the cotton supply chain since leaf content is all 
waste and there is a cost factor associated with its removal. 
Furthermore, since small leaf particles cannot always be removed, these 
particles detract from the quality and, therefore, the value of the 
finished product.
    AMS has instruments with the ability to optically identify, with a 
high level of confidence, the number of leaf particles (Particle Count) 
and to measure the surface area covered by non-lint particles (Area). 
AMS then applies mathematical algorithms to correlate Particle Count 
and Area data to Universal Leaf Grade Standards. A pilot project was 
conducted by AMS during 2009 and 2010 cotton classing seasons to 
evaluate the accuracy of the proposed instrument leaf grade 
determination process. Results showed that the HVI determines Official 
leaf grades more accurately than cotton classers. The Cotton and 
Tobacco Programs propose to introduce instrument leaf grading into the 
cotton classification process. This proposed change would improve the 
repeatability, consistency and accuracy of leaf grade classification 
data provided to the cotton industry, while potentially improving 
operational efficiency.
    For the reasons set forth above, this proposed rule would amend the 
sections in Part 28-- Cotton Classing, Testing, and Standards, Subpart 
A--Regulations Under the United States Cotton Standards Act, which 
establishes the procedures for determining official cotton 
classification based on the Official Cotton Grade Standards. Since 
cotton classification services under the United States Cotton Futures 
Act must conform to the requirements of the Cotton Standards Act, this 
proposed rule would also amend the sections in Part 27--Cotton 
Classification Under Cotton Futures Legislation which establish the 
procedures for determining cotton classification for cotton submitted 
for futures certification.
    In Sec.  27.2 (n), the definition of the term ``classification'' 
would be revised to reflect the changes in procedures made under Part 
28.
    Also under part 27, Sec.  27.31 would be revised to reflect the 
deletion of the requirement for cotton classers to manually determine 
leaf grade. The revised section would reflect the changes made in 
procedures for determination of cotton quality in accordance with the 
official standards.
    In part 28, Sec.  28.8 would be revised to reflect the change in 
cotton classification procedures which replaces classer visual 
examinations to determine leaf grade with instrument leaf measurement 
by High Volume Instruments.
    In addition, miscellaneous other changes are proposed to be made to 
parts 27 and 28 to better reflect current procedures in view of leaf 
determination change. For example, those determinations made by cotton 
classers or by authorized Cotton Program employees will be specified.
    A 15-day comment period is provided to allow interested persons to 
respond to this proposed rule. The comment period has been limited to 
15 days from the date of publication to allow the cotton industry to 
fully benefit from the increased accuracy and repeatability of cotton 
leaf grade data provided by instrument leaf grading during the current 
classing season.

List of Subjects

7 CFR Part 27

    Commodity futures, Cotton.

7 CFR Part 28

    Administrative practice and procedure, Cotton.

    For the reasons set forth in the preamble, 7 CFR parts 27 and 28 
are proposed to be amended as follows:

[[Page 80280]]

PART 27--[AMENDED]

    1. The authority citation for 7 CFR Part 27 continues to read as 
follows:

    Authority: 7 U.S.C. 15b, 7 U.S.C. 4736, 7 U.S.C. 1622(g).

    2. In Sec.  27.2, paragraph (n) is revised to read as follows:

Sec.  27.2  Terms defined.

* * * * *
    (n) Classification. The classification of any cotton shall be 
determined by the quality of a sample in accordance with Official 
Cotton Standards of the United States for the color grade, the leaf 
grade, and fiber property measurements of American Upland cotton. High 
Volume Instruments will determine all fiber property measurements 
except extraneous matter. Cotton classers authorized by the Cotton and 
Tobacco Programs will determine the presence of extraneous matter.
* * * * *
    3. Section 27.31 is revised to read as follows:

Sec.  27.31  Classification of cotton.

    For purposes of subsection 15b(f) of The Act, classification of 
cotton is the determination of the quality of a sample in accordance 
with the Official Cotton Standards of the United States for the color 
grade and leaf grade of American upland cotton, and fiber property 
measurements such as micronaire. High Volume Instruments will determine 
all fiber property measurements except extraneous matter. High Volume 
Instrument colormeter measurements will be used for determining the 
official color grade. Cotton classers authorized by the Cotton and 
Tobacco Programs will determine the presence of extraneous matter and 
authorized employees of the Cotton and Tobacco Programs will determine 
all fiber property measurements using High Volume Instruments.

PART 28--[AMENDED]

    4. The authority citation for 7 CFR Part 28 continues to read as 
follows:

    Authority:  7 U.S.C. 55 and 61.

    5. Section 28.8 is revised to read as follows:

Sec.  28.8  Classification of cotton; determination.

    For the purposes of The Act, the classification of any cotton shall 
be determined by the quality of a sample in accordance with Official 
Cotton Standards of the United States for the color grade and the leaf 
grade of American upland cotton, the length of staple, and fiber 
property measurements such as micronaire. High Volume Instruments will 
determine all fiber property measurements except extraneous matter, 
special conditions and remarks. High Volume Instrument colormeter 
measurements will be used for determining the official color grade. 
Cotton classers authorized by the Cotton and Tobacco Programs will 
determine the presence of extraneous matter, special conditions and 
remarks and authorized employees of the Cotton and Tobacco Programs 
will determine all fiber property measurements using High Volume 
Instruments. The classification record of a Classing Office or the 
Quality Control Division with respect to any cotton shall be deemed to 
be the classification record of the Department.

    Dated: December 14, 2011.
Robert C. Keeney,
Acting Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2011-32926 Filed 12-22-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-02-P
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