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

10334

Vol. 60, No. 37

Friday, February 24, 1995

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

7 CFR Part 6

Dairy Tariff-Rate Import Quota

Licensing

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, USDA.

ACTION: Public hearing.

SUMMARY: The Department of

Agriculture will hold a public hearing

on March 10, 1995, to permit interested

persons to present their views and

comments on changes to the Import

Regulation on dairy products subject to

import licensing.

DATES: The hearing will be held on

March 10, 1995, at 9:30 a.m. Interested

persons wishing to testify at the hearing

must make a written request to testify to

the address indicated below by noon on

March 8, 1995. Following the hearing,

persons may submit written rebuttal

statements to the address indicated

below by noon March 17, 1995.

ADDRESSES: The hearing will be held in

Room 107, Administration Building, the

U.S. Department of Agriculture, 14th

and Independence Avenue, SW,

Washington, D.C.

Address requests to testify to Richard

Warsack, Dairy Import Quota Manager,

Import Policies and Programs Division,

Room 5531–S, Foreign Agricultural

Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture,

14th and Independence Avenue, SW,

Washington, D.C. 20250 1000. Requests

to testify may also to be submitted to

Mr. Warsack via FAX, (202) 720–6556.

All written material received in

response to this notice will be available

for public inspection in Room 5531,

South Building, 14th and Independence

Avenue, SW, Washington, D.C. between

8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Diana Wanamaker, Group Leader,

Import Programs Group, Import Policies

and Programs Division, Room 5531–A,

Foreign Agricultural Service, U.S.

Department of Agriculture, 14th and

Independence Avenue, SW,

Washington, DC 20250–1000, or

telephone (202) 720–2916.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In the

request to testify, the following

information must be provided: name,

address, telephone number, and firm or

affiliation of each witness. Testimony at

the hearing will be limited to 10

minutes. Written rebuttal statements

must be in English and should be

strictly limited to demonstrating errors

of fact or analysis not pointed out in the

hearing, and should be as concise as

possible.

Certain cheese and non-cheese dairy

products may only be imported into the

United States by or for the account of a

person or firm to whom an import

license has been issued by the

Department of Agriculture (the

Department) and only in accordance

with the terms and conditions of a

license issued pursuant to Import

Regulation 1, Revision 7 (7 CFR 6.20–

6.34) (Import Regulation), and the

Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the

United States (HTS). On June 2, 1994,

an Advanced Notice of Proposed

Rulemaking (ANPR) was published in

the Federal Register that the

Department was considering revising

the Import Regulation to implement

commitments undertaken by the United

States under the Uruguay Round of

Multilateral Trade Negotiations and to

make various changes. The comment

period on the ANPR concluded on

August 1, 1994. The Department

received 44 submissions which

provided a wide range of views

including methods of allocating licenses

for imported dairy products and

suggestions on various other changes

intended to update and strengthen the

Import Regulation. The Department is

scheduling a public hearing for the

presentation of views and comments by

interested persons with respect to the

ANPR.

As described in the ANPR, the Import

Regulation provided for the issuance of

licenses to importers of certain dairy

products which were subject to import

quotas proclaimed by the President

pursuant to section 22 of the

Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933, as

amended (7 U.S.C. 624) (Section 22).

The absolute quotas on dairy products

pursuant to Section 22 were converted

to tariff-rate quotas under the HTS on

January 1, 1995 under Presidential

Proclamation 6763 of December 23,

1994 which implemented trade

agreements resulting from the Uruguay

Round of Multilateral Trade

Negotiations. That Proclamation also

allocated the in-quota quantity of dairy

products subject to tariff-rate quotas

among supplying countries. The

importation of most dairy products

subject to the in-quota tariff rates will be

administered by the Department

through a licensing system in

accordance with the Import Regulation.

The Department published an Interim

Rule in the Federal Register on January

6, 1995, which amended the Import

Regulation to make import licensing

applicable to the quantities of dairy

products subject to in-quota tariff rates

as of January 1, 1995 under the HTS

including quantities of dairy products

that had been subject to quotas under

Section 22 and new quantities

negotiated in the Uruguay Round for the

1995 quota year. The Interim Rule also

established eligibility standards for noncheese dairy products to ensure that

licenses are granted to commercial

operations importing, exporting, or

manufacturing dairy products, and

established a rank-order lottery system

for non-cheese dairy products. Butter

substitutes and butteroil were made

subject to licensing in view of the

significant increase in the quantities of

these products which may enter at the

in-quota tariff rate. The Interim Rule

amended the Import Regulation to

implement the U.S. Uruguay Round

commitments, but did not include

fundamental changes in the operation of

the administration of the import

licensing system set forth in the Import

Regulation as envisaged in the ANPR.

At this time, the Department is

considering the broader fundamental

changes to the Import Regulation as

envisaged in the ANPR. The Department

will conduct a public hearing to permit

interested parties to orally present their

views, suggestions, and concerns on

changes to the provisions of the Import

Regulation including modifications,

revisions, and updating with respect to:

definitions, eligibility requirements,

transfer of eligibility, allocation of

annual in-quota tariff-rate quantities,

issuance of licenses, issuance of exquota permits, sales in-transmit, record

and inspection, suspension and

revocation procedures, and amendments

to the Import Regulations implemented

in the Interim Rule. Interested persons

are encouraged to present testimony on

proposed changes as well as any other
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.