Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 37 / Friday, February 24, 1995 / Proposed Rules 10335

comments that they may feel

appropriate.

Signed at Washington, D.C., the 16th day

of February, 1995.

R.E. Rominger,

Acting Secretary of Agriculture.

[FR Doc. 95–4592 Filed 2–23–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–10–P

Agricultural Marketing Service

7 CFR Part 28

[CN–95–001]

RIN 0581–AB15

Revision of User Fees for 1995 Crop

Cotton Classification Services to

Growers

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service,

USDA.

ACTION: Proposed rule.

SUMMARY: The Agricultural Marketing

Service (AMS) is proposing to reduce

user fees for cotton producers for 1995

crop cotton classification services under

the Cotton Statistics and Estimates Act

in accordance with the formula

provided in the Uniform Cotton

Classing Fees Act of 1987. The 1994

user fee for this classification service

was $1.80 per bale. This proposal would

reduce the fee for the 1994 crop to $1.60

per bale. The proposed reduction in fees

is due to increased efficiency in classing

operations and is sufficient to recover

the costs of providing classification

services, including costs for

administration, supervision, and

development and maintenance of

standards.

DATES: Comments must be received by

March 27, 1995.

ADDRESSES: Comments and inquiries

should be addressed to Lee Cliburn,

Cotton Division, AMS, USDA, room

2641–S, P.O. Box 96456, Washington,

DC 20090–6456. Comments will be

available for public inspection during

regular business hours at the above

office in Rm. 2641–South Building, 14th

& Independence Avenue, SW.,

Washington, DC.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Lee Cliburn, 202–720–2145.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This rule

has been determined to be not

significant for purposes of Executive

Order 12866, and has not been reviewed

by the Office of Management and

Budget (OMB).

This proposed rule has been reviewed

under Executive Order 12778, Civil

Justice Reform. It is not intended to

have retroactive effect. This rule would

not preempt any state or local laws,

regulations, or policies unless they

present an irreconcilable conflict with

this rule. There are no administrative

procedures which must be exhausted

prior to any judicial challenge to the

provisions of this rule.

The Administrator, Agricultural

Marketing Service (AMS), has

considered the economic impact of this

proposal on small entities pursuant to

the requirements set forth in the

Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) (5

U.S.C. 601 et seq.).

The purpose of the RFA is to fit

regulatory actions to the scale of

businesses subject to such actions in

order that small businesses will not be

disproportionately burdened. There are

about 40,000 cotton growers who

voluntarily submit their cotton for the

classification service. The majority of

the growers are small businesses under

the criteria established by the Small

Business Administration. The

Administrator of AMS has certified that

this action will not have a significant

economic impact on a substantial

number of small entities as defined in

the RFA because:

(1) The fee reduction reflects a

decrease in the cost-per-unit currently

borne by those entities utilizing the

services;

(2) The cost reduction will not affect

competition in the marketplace; and

(3) The use of classification services is

voluntary.

In compliance with OMB regulations

(5 CFR part 1320) which implement the

Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1980

(44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), 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 0581–0009 under

the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980

(44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).

It is anticipated that the proposed

changes, if adopted, would be made

effective July 1, 1995, as provided by the

Cotton Statistics and Estimates Act.

Fees for Classification Under the Cotton

Statistics and Estimates Act of 1927

The user fee charged to cotton

producers for High Volume Instrument

(HVI) classification services under the

Cotton Statistics and Estimates Act (7

U.S.C. 473a) was $1.80 per bale during

the 1994 harvest season as determined

by using the formula provided in the

Uniform Cotton Classing Fees Act of

1987, as amended by Public Law 102–

237. The fees cover salaries, cost of

equipment and supplies, and other

overhead costs, including costs for

administration, supervision, and

development and maintenance of cotton

standards.

This proposed rule establishes the

user fee charged to producers for HVI

classification at $1.60 per bale during

the 1995 harvest season.

Public Law 102–237 amended the

formula in the Uniform Cotton Classing

Fees Act of 1987 for establishing the

producer’s classification fee so that the

producer’s fee is based on the prevailing

method of classification requested by

producers during the previous year. HVI

classing was the prevailing method of

cotton classification requested by

producers in 1994. Therefore, the 1995

producer’s user fee for classification

service is based on the 1994 base fee for

HVI classification.

The fee was calculated by applying

the formula specified in the Uniform

Cotton Classing Fees Act of 1987, as

amended by Public Law 102–237. The

1994 base fee for HVI classification

exclusive of adjustments, as provided by

the Act, was $1.96 per bale. A 2.3

percent, or five cents per bale increase

due to the implicit price deflator of the

gross domestic product added to the

$1.96 would result in a 1995 base fee of

$2.01 per bale. The formula in the Act

provides for the use of the percentage

change in the implicit price deflator of

the gross national product (as indexed

for the most recent 12-month period for

which statistics are available). However,

this has been replaced by the gross

domestic product by the Department of

Commerce as a more appropriate

measure for the short-term monitoring

and analysis of the U.S. economy.

The number of bales to be classed by

the United States Department of

Agriculture from the 1995 crop is

estimated at 19,202,000. The 1995 base

fee was decreased 15 percent based on

the estimated number of bales to be

classed (one percent for every 100,000

bales or portion thereof above the base

of 12,500,000, limited to a maximum

adjustment of 15 percent). This

percentage factor amounts to a 30 cents

per bale reduction and was subtracted

from the 1995 base fee of $2.01 per bale,

resulting in a fee of $1.71 per bale.

Assuming a fee of $1.71 per bale, the

projected operating reserve would be 30

percent. The Act specifies that the

Secretary shall not establish a fee

which, when combined with other

sources of revenue, will result in a

projected operating reserve of more than

25 percent. Accordingly, the fee of $1.71

must be reduced by 11 cents per bale,

to $1.60 per bale, to provide an ending

accumulated operating reserve for the

fiscal year of 25 percent of the projected

cost of operating the program. This

would establish the 1995 season fee at

$1.60 per bale.
10336 Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 37 / Friday, February 24, 1995 / Proposed Rules

1The authority to exercise the functions of the

Secretary of Agriculture contained in the

Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946, as amended (7

U.S.C. 1621–1627), concerning inspection and

standardization activities related to grain and

similar commodities and products thereof has been

delegated to the Administrator, Grain Inspection,

Packers and Stockyards Administration (7 U.S.C.

75a; 7 CFR 68.5).

Accordingly, § 28.909, paragraph (b)

would be revised to reflect the reduction

in the HVI classification fees.

As provided for in the Uniform Cotton

Classing Fees Act of 1987, as amended,

a five 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

would continue to incur no additional

fees if only one method of receiving

classification data was requested. The

fee for each additional method of

receiving classification data in § 28.910

would remain at five cents per bale, and

it would be applicable even if the same

method was requested. The other

provisions of § 28.910 concerning the

fee for an owner receiving classification

data from the central database and the

fee for new classification memoranda

issued for the business convenience of

such an owner without reclassification

of the cotton would remain the same.

The fee for review classification in

§ 28.911 would be reduced from $1.80

per bale to $1.60 per bale.

The fee for returning samples after

classification in § 28.911 would remain

at 40 cents per sample.

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 28

Administrative practice and

procedures, 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 proposed to

be amended as follows:

PART 28—[AMENDED]

1. The authority citation for Part 28 is

revised to read as follows:

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 473a, 7 U.S.C. 473c.

2. Section 28.909, paragraph (b)

would be revised to read as follows:

§ 28.909 Costs.

* * * * *

(b) The cost of High Volume

Instrument (HVI) cotton classification

service to producers is $1.60 per bale.

* * * * *

3. In Section 28.911, the last sentence

of paragraph (a) would be revised to

read as follows:

§ 28.911 Review classification.

(a) * * * The fee for review

classification is $1.60 per bale.

* * * * *

Dated: February 21, 1995.

Lon Hatamiya,

Administrator.

[FR Doc. 95–4737 Filed 2–23–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–02–P

Grain Inspection, Packers and

Stockyards Administration

7 CFR Part 68

United States Standards for Beans

AGENCY: Grain Inspection, Packers and

Stockyards Administration, USDA.1

ACTION: Proposed rule.

SUMMARY: The Federal Grain Inspection

Service (FGIS), of the Grain Inspection,

Packers and Stockyards Administration

(GIPSA), is proposing to revise the

United States Standards for Beans at the

request of elements within the Bean

Industry. Specifically, FGIS is proposing

to eliminate the factor ‘‘clean-cut

weevil-bored beans’’ from the grade

requirement for the class Blackeye beans

and change the grade limits for the

factors ‘‘total defects,’’ ‘‘blistered,

wrinkled and/or broken beans,’’ and

‘‘splits’’ for the class Baby Lima beans.

FGIS is proposing to change the

standard to facilitate marketing of beans.

DATES: Comments must be received by

May 25, 1995.

ADDRESSES: Written comments must be

submitted to George Wollam, GIPSA–

FGIS, USDA, Room 0623 South

Building, P.O. Box 96454, Washington,

DC, 20090–6454; FAX (202) 720–4628.

All comments received will be made

available for public inspection in Room

0623 USDA South Building, 1400

Independence Avenue SW.,

Washington, DC, during regular

business hours (7 CFR 1.27(b)).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

George Wollam, address as above,

telephone (202) 720–0292.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Executive Order 12866

The Department is issuing this

proposed rule in conformance with

Executive Order 12866.

Executive Order 12778

This proposed rule has been reviewed

under Executive Order 12778, Civil

Justice Reform. This action is not

intended to have retroactive effect. This

proposed rule will not preempt any

State or local laws, regulations, or

policies, unless they present an

irreconcilable conflict with this rule.

There are no administrative procedures

which must be exhausted prior to any

judicial challenge to the provisions of

this rule.

Regulatory Flexibility Act Certification

James R. Baker, Administrator,

GIPSA, has determined that this

proposed rule will not have a significant

economic impact on a substantial

number of small entities because those

persons who apply the standards and

most users of the inspection service do

not meet the requirements of small

entities as defined in the Regulatory

Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.).

Further, the standards are applied

equally to all entities.

Information Collection and

Recordkeeping Requirements

In compliance with the Paperwork

Reduction Act of 1980 (44 U.S.C.

chapter 35), the information collection

and recordkeeping requirements in Part

68 have been approved previously by

OMB and assigned OMB No. 0580–

0013.

Review of Standards

On September 22, 1993, FGIS

published in the Federal Register (58

FR 49248) a request for public

comments on several changes to the

United States Standards for Beans that

had been suggested by the California

Bean Shippers Association (CBSA), with

the concurrence of the California Dry

Bean Advisory Board. Specifically,

CBSA recommended that the grading

factor ‘‘clean-cut weevil-bored beans’’

be eliminated from the grade

requirements for the class Blackeye

beans and that ‘‘clean-cut weevil-bored

beans’’ be considered as ‘‘worm-cut’’ or

‘‘insect damaged’’ beans. They also

recommended that the limits for ‘‘total

defects,’’ ‘‘blistered, wrinkled, and/or

broken beans,’’ and ‘‘splits’’ in the class

Baby Lima beans be changed to coincide

with the grade limits for similar factors

in other classes of beans.

Interested parties were invited to

participate in the rulemaking process by

submitting written comments and/or

recommendations regarding the official

standards. During the 60-day comment

period, one written comment was

received from a European industry

group. This group recommended that

Blackeye beans in grades U.S. Nos. 1, 2,

and 3 should not contain more than 0.0,

0.1, and 0.2 percent, respectively, of

‘‘clean-cut weevil-bored beans and

weevilled beans, total.’’

‘‘Clean-Cut Weevil-Bored Beans’’ in

Blackeye Beans

The present U.S. standards define

‘‘clean-cut weevil-bored beans’’ as beans