This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains regulatory documents having general

applicability and legal effect, most of which

are keyed to and codified in the Code of

Federal Regulations, which is published under

50 titles pursuant to 44 U.S.C. 1510.

The Code of Federal Regulations is sold by

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new books are listed in the first FEDERAL

REGISTER issue of each week.

Rules and Regulations Federal Register

34319 

Vol. 75, No. 116 

Thursday, June 17, 2010 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Agricultural Marketing Service 

7 CFR Part 28 

[AMS–CN–10–0001; CN–10–001] 

RIN 0581–AC99 

User Fees for 2010 Crop Cotton 

Classification Services to Growers 

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, 

USDA. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: The Agricultural Marketing 

Service (AMS) will maintain user fees 

for cotton producers for 2010 crop 

cotton classification services under the 

Cotton Statistics and Estimates Act at 

the same level as in 2009. These fees are 

also authorized under the Cotton 

Standards Act of 1923. The 2009 crop 

user fee was $2.20 per bale, and this 

rule will continue the fee for the 2010 

cotton crop at that same level. This fee 

and the existing reserve are sufficient to 

cover the costs of providing 

classification services for the 2010 crop, 

including costs for administration and 

supervision. 

DATES: Effective Date: June 18, 2010. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Darryl Earnest, Deputy Administrator, 

Cotton and Tobacco Programs, AMS, 

USDA, Room 2637–S, STOP 0224, 1400 

Independence Avenue, SW., 

Washington, DC 20250–0224. 

Telephone (202) 720–3193, facsimile 

(202) 690–1718, or e-mail 

darryl.earnest@usda.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: A 

proposed rule detailing the revisions 

was published in the Federal Register 

on April 27, 2010 (75 FR 22026). A 15- 

day comment period was provided for 

interested persons to respond to the 

proposed rule. One comment was 

received from a national cotton industry 

organization in support of the service 

and the decision to maintain the fee at 

the level established for the 2009 crop. 

Executive Order 12866 

This final 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 final 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 2009 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 2009 user fee for 

classification services was $2.20 per 

bale; the fee for the 2010 crop would be 

maintained at $2.20 per bale; the 2010 

crop is estimated at 14,500,000 bales). 

(2) The fee for services will not affect 

competition in the marketplace. 

(3) The use of classification services is 

voluntary. For the 2009 crop, 12,400,000 

bales were produced; and, almost all of 

these bales were voluntarily submitted 

by growers for the classification service. 

(4) Based on the average price paid to 

growers for cotton from the 2008 crop of 

0.5520 cents per pound, 500 pound 

bales of cotton are worth an average of 

$276 each. The user fee for classification 

services, $2.20 per bale, is less than one 

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 amended by this final rule 

have been previously approved by OMB 

and were assigned OMB control number 

0581–AC43. 

Fees for Classification Under the Cotton 

Statistics and Estimates Act of 1927 

This final rule maintains the user fee 

charged to producers for cotton 

classification at $2.20 per bale for the 

2010 cotton crop. The 2010 user fee 

charged to farmers was calculated using 

new methodology, as was required by 

section 14201 of the Food, 

Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 

(Pub. L. 110–234) (2008 Farm Bill). Prior 

to the changes made by the 2008 Farm 

Bill, the fee was determined using a 

user-fee formula mandated in the 

Uniform Cotton Classing Fees Act of 

1987, as amended (Pub. L. 100–108, 

728) (1987 Act). This formula used the 

previous year’s base fee that was 

adjusted for inflation and economies of 

size (1 percent decrease/increase for 

every 100,000 bales above/below 12.5 

million bales with maximum 

adjustment being ±15 percent). The user 

fee was then further adjusted to comply 

with operating reserve constraints 

(between 10 and 25 percent of projected 

operating costs) specified by the 1987 

Act. 

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 


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34320 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 116 / Thursday, June 17, 2010 / Rules and Regulations 

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 

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. The classification fee 

should continue to be a basic, uniform 

fee per bale fee as determined necessary 

to maintain cost-effective 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, this final rule establishes a user 

fee (dollar per bale classed) for the 2010 

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 while meeting 

minimum reserve requirements set by 

the Agricultural Marketing Service, 

which require maintenance of a reserve 

fund amount equal to four months of 

projected operating costs. 

Extensive consultations regarding the 

establishment of the classification fee 

with U.S. cotton industry 

representatives were held during the 

period from September 2009 through 

January 2010 during numerous publicly 

held meetings. Representatives of all 

segments of the cotton industry, 

including producers, ginners, bale 

storage facility operators, merchants, 

cooperatives, and textile manufacturers 

were addressed in various industrysponsored forums. 

The user fee established to be charged 

cotton producers for cotton 

classification in 2010 is $2.20 per bale, 

which is the same fee charged for the 

2009 crop. This fee is based on the preseason projection that 14.5 million bales 

will be classed by the United States 

Department of Agriculture during the 

2010 crop year. 

Accordingly, § 28.909, paragraph (b) 

will 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 will 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 will 

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 will remain at 5 cents per bale. 

The fee in § 28.910 (b) for an owner 

receiving classification data from the 

National database will remain at 5 cents 

per bale, and the minimum charge of 

$5.00 for services provided per monthly 

billing period will 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 will remain at $2.20 per bale. 

The fee for returning samples after 

classification in § 28.911 will remain at 

50 cents per sample. 

Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 533, good cause 

exists for not postponing the effective 

date of this final rule until 30 days after 

publication in the Federal Register 

because this rule maintains uniform 

user fees for 2010 crop cotton 

classification services as mandated by 

the Cotton Statistics and Estimates Act, 

at the same level as 2009 and only one 

comment was received during the 

public comment period provided in the 

proposed rule. 

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 28 

Administrative practice and 

procedure, Cotton, Cotton samples, 

Grades, Market news, Reporting and 

recordkeeping requirements, Standards, 

Staples, Testing, Warehouses. 

■ For the reasons set forth in the 

preamble, 7 CFR part 28 is amended 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: June 11, 2010. 

David R. Shipman, 

Acting Administrator, Agricultural Marketing 

Service. 

[FR Doc. 2010–14582 Filed 6–16–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–02–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

Service 

7 CFR Part 301 

[Docket No. APHIS-2010-0004] 

Asian Longhorned Beetle; Quarantined 

Area and Regulated Articles 

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Interim rule and request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: We are amending the Asian 

longhorned beetle regulations by adding 

a portion of Worcester County, MA, to 

the list of quarantined areas and 

restricting the interstate movement of 

regulated articles from that area. We are 

also updating the list of regulated 

articles in order to reflect new 

information concerning host plants. 

These actions are necessary to prevent 

the artificial spread of the Asian 

longhorned beetle to noninfested areas 

of the United States. 

DATES: This interim rule is effective 

June 17, 2010. We will consider all 

comments that we receive on or before 

August 16, 2010. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

by either of the following methods: 

∑ Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to 

(http://www.regulations.gov/ 

fdmspublic/component/ 

main?main=DocketDetail&d=APHIS2010-0004) to submit or view comments 

and to view supporting and related 

materials available electronically. 

∑ Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: 

Please send one copy of your comment 

to Docket No. APHIS-2010-0004, 


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