2024 Rates for Grain Inspection Services Under the United States Grain Standards Act, 16521-16523 [2024-04838]
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16521
Notices
Federal Register
Vol. 89, No. 46
Thursday, March 7, 2024
This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER
contains documents other than rules or
proposed rules that are applicable to the
public. Notices of hearings and investigations,
committee meetings, agency decisions and
rulings, delegations of authority, filing of
petitions and applications and agency
statements of organization and functions are
examples of documents appearing in this
section.
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Overview of Schedule A (Official
Inspection and Weighing Services) Fee
Calculations
Agricultural Marketing Service
[Doc. No. AMS–FGIS–23–0083]
2024 Rates for Grain Inspection
Services Under the United States Grain
Standards Act
Agricultural Marketing Service,
USDA.
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:
The Agricultural Marketing
Service (AMS) is announcing the 2024
rates it will charge for official inspection
and weighing services, supervision of
official inspection and weighing
services, and miscellaneous fees for
other services performed under the
United States Grain Standards Act, as
amended. This action publishes the
annual review of fees and the resulting
fees.
DATES: Applicable April 1, 2024.
ADDRESSES: Prospective customers can
find the fee scheduled posted on the
Agency’s public website: https://www.
ams.usda.gov/about-ams/fgis-programdirectives.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Denise Ruggles, FGIS Executive Program
Analyst, USDA AMS; Telephone: 816–
702–3897, or Email: denise.m.ruggles@
usda.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The
United States Grain Standards Act
(USGSA) provides the Secretary of
SUMMARY:
Agriculture with the authority to charge
and collect reasonable fees to cover the
costs of performing official services, as
well as those associated with managing
the program. The grain inspection
regulations require that the Federal
Grain Inspection Service (FGIS)
conducts annual fee reviews of national
and local administrative costs related to
grain volume/tonnage inspected (7 CFR
800.71).
The USGSA and its implementing
regulations (7 CFR 800.71(b)(3)(i) and
(ii)) require FGIS to maintain an
operating reserve of not less than 3 and
not more than 6 months’ expenses. To
comply with this requirement, FGIS
conducts an annual review of its
tonnage fees and operating reserves.
Tonnage fees are calculated according to
7 CFR 800.71(b)(1). After calculating the
tonnage fees, FGIS reviews the amount
of funds in the operating reserve at the
end of the fiscal year (FY) (FY2023 in
this case) to ensure that it has 41⁄2
months of operating expenses. FGIS
uses 4.5 months of expenses as its target
amount because section 800.71(b)(3) of
the regulations specifies 4.5 months as
the trigger for whether FGIS should
make adjustments to its fees. If the
operating reserve has more—or less—
than 41⁄2 months of operating expenses,
then FGIS must adjust all Schedule A
fees. For each $1,000,000, rounded
down, that the operating reserve varies
from the target of 41⁄2 months, FGIS will
adjust all Schedule A fees by 2 percent.
If the operating reserve exceeds the
target, all Schedule A fees will be
reduced. If the operating reserve does
not meet the target, all Schedule A fees
will be increased. The maximum annual
increase or decrease in fees is 5 percent
(7 CFR 800.71(b)(3)(i)–(ii)).
Tonnage fees for the 5-year rolling
average tonnage were calculated on the
previous 5 fiscal years (2019, 2020,
2021, 2022, and 2023). Tonnage fees
consist of the national tonnage fee and
local tonnage fee and are calculated and
rounded to the nearest $0.001 per metric
ton.
Calculation of national tonnage fee.
The national tonnage fee is the national
program administrative costs for the
previous fiscal year divided by the
average yearly tons of export grain
officially inspected and/or weighed by
delegated States and designated
agencies, excluding land carrier
shipments to Canada and Mexico, and
outbound grain officially inspected and/
or weighed by FGIS during the previous
5 fiscal years.
The FY2024 national tonnage fee,
prior to the operating reserve review, is
$0.054 per metric ton. The calculation
of this fee is based on FY2023 national
administrative costs of $6,250,062,
divided by the 5-year rolling tonnage
average of 114,983,338 metric tons.
TABLE 1—NATIONAL TONNAGE
INSPECTED
Fiscal year
2019 ......................................
2020 ......................................
2021 ......................................
2022 ......................................
2023 ......................................
5-year Rolling Average .........
Metric tons
107,896,235
110,090,771
136,574,792
123,745,530
96,609,360
114,983,338
Calculation of local tonnage fee. The
local tonnage fee is the field office
administrative costs for the previous
fiscal year divided by the average yearly
tons of outbound grain officially
inspected and/or weighed by FGIS field
offices during the previous 5 fiscal
years.
TABLE 2—LOCAL TONNAGE INSPECTED BY FIELD OFFICE
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
Field office
New Orleans ............................................
League City ..............................................
Pacific Northwest .....................................
Toledo ......................................................
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FY2019
FY2020
FY2021
FY2022
FY2023
57,807,378
7,939,994
2,530,648
1,597,584
59,768,303
9,318,595
3,331,672
948,840
72,482,289
12,877,525
4,136,482
1,154,856
68,880,711
8,335,121
2,720,001
1,191,938
56,312,940
5,824,829
1,754,725
790,400
PO 00000
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5-year
rolling average
63,050,324
8,859,213
2,894,706
1,136,724
16522
Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 46 / Thursday, March 7, 2024 / Notices
The local field office administrative
costs for FY2023 and the FY2024
calculated local field office tonnage fee,
prior to the operating reserve review, are
as follows:
TABLE 3—LOCAL ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS AND CALCULATED LOCAL TONNAGE FEE BY FIELD OFFICE
Field office
New Orleans ............................................................................................................................................................
League City ..............................................................................................................................................................
Pacific Northwest .....................................................................................................................................................
Toledo ......................................................................................................................................................................
Operating reserve. In order to
maintain an operating reserve that is not
less than 3 and not more than 6 months
of operating expenses, FGIS reviewed
the value of the operating reserve at the
end of FY2023 to ensure that an
operating reserve equivalent to 41⁄2
months of operating expenses is
maintained.
The program operating reserve at the
end of FY2023 was ($504,270), with a
monthly operating expense of
$2,645,846. The target of 4.5 months of
operating reserve is $11,906,307.
Therefore, the operating reserve is
$12,410,578 below the 4.5 months target
level. Under the regulations, for each
$1,000,000, rounded down, below the
target level, all Schedule A fees must be
increased by 2 percent. The operating
reserve is $12.4 million below the target
level, indicating a larger increase in fees
would be required to fully restore the
operating reserve. However, section
800.71(b)(3)(i) limits annual fee changes
to 5 percent. which will not increase the
operating reserve to the minimum
statutory amount of 3 times the monthly
operating expenses. In addition to this
fee adjustment, and pursuant to section
800.71(c) of the regulations and section
7(j)(4) of the USGSA, FGIS is reviewing
all fees to ensure they reflect the true
FY2023 local
administrative
costs
Calculated FY
2024
local tonnage
fee
$715,554
672,847
374,859
167,053
$0.011
0.076
0.129
0.147
costs of providing and supervising
official service.
As described in this notice, FGIS is
increasing all the 2023 Schedule A fees
for service in Schedule A in
§ 800.71(a)(1) by 5 percent for FY2024,
including calculated FY2024 national
and local tonnage fees. All Schedule A
fees for service are rounded to the
nearest $0.10, except for fees based on
tonnage or hundredweight. Schedule A
fees will be outlined in FGIS Directive
9180.74 and published on the agency’s
public website. For example, national
and local tonnage fees are adjusted as
follows:
TABLE 4—NATIONAL TONNAGE FEE WITH OPERATING RESERVE ADJUSTMENT AND FY2023 FEE
Calculated
FY2024
tonnage fee
Fee description
FY2024 calculation with
operating reserve adjustment
National (Delegated States/Designated Agencies) ......
$0.054 plus 5% increase ($0.003) equals $0.057 .......
$0.057
FY2023
tonnage fee
$0.033
TABLE 5—FIELD OFFICE TONNAGE FEE WITH OPERATING RESERVE ADJUSTMENT AND FY2023 FEE
Fee description
New Orleans .................................................................
League City ..................................................................
Pacific Northwest ..........................................................
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
Toledo ...........................................................................
All Schedule A fees for service are
rounded to the nearest $0.10, except for
fees based on tonnage or
hundredweight. Schedule A fees will be
outlined in FGIS Directive 9180.74 and
published on the agency’s public
website.
VerDate Sep<11>2014
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Calculated
FY2024
tonnage fee
(national +
local)
FY2024 calculation with
operating reserve adjustment
local fee $0.011
$0.012.
local fee $0.076
$0.080.
local fee $0.129
$0.135.
local fee $0.147
$0.154.
plus 5% increase ($0.001) equals
$0.069
$0.055
plus 5% increase ($0.004) equals
0.137
0.108
plus 5% increase ($0.006) equals
0.192
0.158
plus 5% increase ($0.007) equals
0.211
0.310
Overview of Schedule B Fees (Fees for
Supervision of Official Inspection and
Weighing Services Performed by
Delegated States and Designated
Agencies in the United States)
FGIS calculates the supervision
tonnage fee using the prior year’s actual
costs and the 5-year average tonnage of
domestic U.S. grain shipments
inspected, weighed, or both, including
PO 00000
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FY2023
tonnage fee
Sfmt 4703
land carrier shipments to Canada and
Mexico.
Operating reserve adjustment. In
order to maintain an operating reserve
of not less than 3 and not more than 6
months, FGIS reviewed the value of the
operating reserve at the end of FY2023
to ensure that an operating reserve of 6
months is maintained.
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Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 46 / Thursday, March 7, 2024 / Notices
The operating reserve adjustment is
the difference between FY2023 ending
reserves and the operating reserve
threshold, which is equivalent to 6
months of supervisory costs. FY2023
supervision costs were $1,186,689. The
operating reserve threshold for FY2024
is calculated by dividing FY2023
supervision costs by 2 ($1,186,689/2 =
$593,345). The FY2023 operating
reserve ending balance ($295,535) is less
than the operating reserve threshold
($593,345) by $297,810. Therefore, the
operating reserve adjustment for
calendar year 2024 is $297,810.
Supervision tonnage fee. FGIS adds
the total prior year supervision costs
and the operating reserve adjustment,
then divides the result by the previous
5-year average tonnage. If the calculated
fee is zero or a negative value, FGIS will
suspend collection of supervision
tonnage fees for the next calendar year.
The supervision tonnage fee for
calendar year 2024 is $0.007 per ton.
The calculation, based on FY2023
supervision costs of $1,186,689, is
$1,186,689 plus the operating reserve
adjustment of $297,810, which equals
$1,484,499, divided by a 5-year average
tonnage of 219,219,620, which equals
$0.007 per ton.
TABLE 6—TONNAGE SUPERVISED
Fiscal year
2019 ......................................
2020 ......................................
2021 ......................................
2022 ......................................
2023 ......................................
5-year Rolling Average .........
Metric tons
206,693,881
237,649,430
232,738,700
225,570,903
193,445,187
219,219,620
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
Therefore, for 2024, FGIS will assess
a supervision tonnage fee of $0.007 per
ton on domestic shipments officially
inspected and/or weighed, including
land carrier shipments to Canada and
Mexico, performed by delegated States
and/or designated agencies on or after
April 1, 2024. The Schedule B fee will
be published in FGIS Directive 9180.74
and on the agency’s public website.
7 CFR 800.71(d) Miscellaneous Fees for
Other Services Calculations
Registration certificates and renewals.
FGIS calculates the application fee by
multiplying the Schedule A noncontract hourly rate (Table 1 in
§ 800.71(a)) by a quantity of five. The
resulting fee is expected to cover FGIS
personnel costs to review applications,
fee publication expenses, and
administrative expenses. The Schedule
A non-contract hourly rate is $73. Thus,
the application fee for 2024 will be $73
times 5, or $365. The fee will be
published on the agency’s public
VerDate Sep<11>2014
16:13 Mar 06, 2024
Jkt 262001
website after Federal Register
publication.
Designation amendments. FGIS
calculates the rate using the Federal
Register publication rate for three
columns, plus one hour of noncontract
hourly rate from § 800.71(a) Table 1 of
Schedule A. The fee covers FGIS
personnel costs, administrative
expenses, and costs for publishing
notices regarding the designation of
official service providers in the Federal
Register. The Federal Register
publication rate is $151 per column, and
the Schedule A non-contract hourly rate
is $73. FGIS calculates the fee will be
$526 for calendar year 2024. The fee
will be published on the agency’s public
website after Federal Register
publication.
Authority: 7 U.S.C. 71–87k.
Melissa Bailey,
Associate Administrator, Agricultural
Marketing Service.
[FR Doc. 2024–04838 Filed 3–6–24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE P
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Submission for OMB Review;
Comment Request
The Department of Agriculture has
submitted the following information
collection requirement(s) to OMB for
review and clearance under the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995,
Public Law 104–13. Comments are
requested regarding; whether the
collection of information is necessary
for the proper performance of the
functions of the agency, including
whether the information will have
practical utility; the accuracy of the
agency’s estimate of burden including
the validity of the methodology and
assumptions used; ways to enhance the
quality, utility and clarity of the
information to be collected; and ways to
minimize the burden of the collection of
information on those who are to
respond, including through the use of
appropriate automated, electronic,
mechanical, or other technological
collection techniques or other forms of
information technology.
Comments regarding this information
collection received by April 8, 2024 will
be considered. Written comments and
recommendations for the proposed
information collection should be
submitted within 30 days of the
publication of this notice on the
following website www.reginfo.gov/
public/do/PRAMain. Find this
particular information collection by
selecting ‘‘Currently under 30-day
PO 00000
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Fmt 4703
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16523
Review—Open for Public Comments’’ or
by using the search function.
An agency may not conduct or
sponsor a collection of information
unless the collection of information
displays a currently valid OMB control
number, and the agency informs
potential persons who are to respond to
the collection of information that such
persons are not required to respond to
the collection of information unless it
displays a currently valid OMB control
number.
Animal and Plant Health Inspection
Service
Title: Bees and Related Articles.
OMB Control Number: 0579–0207.
Summary of Collection: The Plant
Protection Act (APA) (7 U.S.C. 7701 et
seq.), authorizes the Secretary of
Agriculture to prohibit or restrict the
importation, entry, or interstate
movement of plants, plant products, and
other articles to prevent the
introduction of plant pests into the
United States or their dissemination
within the United States.
Under the Honeybee Act (7 U.S.C.
281–286), the Secretary is authorized to
prohibit or restrict the importation of
honeybees and honeybee semen to
prevent the introduction into the United
States of diseases and parasites harmful
to honeybees and of undesirable species
and subspecies of honeybees. The
Animal and Plant Health Inspection
Service (APHIS), Plant Protection and
Quarantine (PPQ), is responsible for
implementing the intent of these Acts,
and does so through the enforcement of
its pollinator and bee regulations.
Need and Use of the Information:
APHIS collects information from a
variety of individuals who are involved
in breeding, exporting, importing, and
containing bees and related articles. The
information APHIS collects serves as the
supporting documentation needed to
issue required PPQ forms and
documents that allow importation of
bees and related articles or authorizes
the release of bees. This documentation
is vital to helping APHIS ensure that
exotic bee diseases and parasites, and
undesirable species and subspecies of
honeybees, do not spread into or within
the United States. Without the
information, APHIS could not verify
that imported bees and related articles
do not present a significant risk of
introducing exotic bee disease,
parasites, and undesirable species and
subspecies of honeybees.
Description of Respondents:
Businesses or other-for-profit; Foreign
Federal Government.
Number of Respondents: 8.
E:\FR\FM\07MRN1.SGM
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 46 (Thursday, March 7, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16521-16523]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-04838]
========================================================================
Notices
Federal Register
________________________________________________________________________
This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains documents other than rules
or proposed rules that are applicable to the public. Notices of hearings
and investigations, committee meetings, agency decisions and rulings,
delegations of authority, filing of petitions and applications and agency
statements of organization and functions are examples of documents
appearing in this section.
========================================================================
Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 46 / Thursday, March 7, 2024 /
Notices
[[Page 16521]]
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Agricultural Marketing Service
[Doc. No. AMS-FGIS-23-0083]
2024 Rates for Grain Inspection Services Under the United States
Grain Standards Act
AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) is announcing the
2024 rates it will charge for official inspection and weighing
services, supervision of official inspection and weighing services, and
miscellaneous fees for other services performed under the United States
Grain Standards Act, as amended. This action publishes the annual
review of fees and the resulting fees.
DATES: Applicable April 1, 2024.
ADDRESSES: Prospective customers can find the fee scheduled posted on
the Agency's public website: https://www.ams.usda.gov/about-ams/fgis-program-directives.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Denise Ruggles, FGIS Executive Program
Analyst, USDA AMS; Telephone: 816-702-3897, or Email:
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The United States Grain Standards Act
(USGSA) provides the Secretary of Agriculture with the authority to
charge and collect reasonable fees to cover the costs of performing
official services, as well as those associated with managing the
program. The grain inspection regulations require that the Federal
Grain Inspection Service (FGIS) conducts annual fee reviews of national
and local administrative costs related to grain volume/tonnage
inspected (7 CFR 800.71).
Overview of Schedule A (Official Inspection and Weighing Services) Fee
Calculations
The USGSA and its implementing regulations (7 CFR 800.71(b)(3)(i)
and (ii)) require FGIS to maintain an operating reserve of not less
than 3 and not more than 6 months' expenses. To comply with this
requirement, FGIS conducts an annual review of its tonnage fees and
operating reserves. Tonnage fees are calculated according to 7 CFR
800.71(b)(1). After calculating the tonnage fees, FGIS reviews the
amount of funds in the operating reserve at the end of the fiscal year
(FY) (FY2023 in this case) to ensure that it has 4\1/2\ months of
operating expenses. FGIS uses 4.5 months of expenses as its target
amount because section 800.71(b)(3) of the regulations specifies 4.5
months as the trigger for whether FGIS should make adjustments to its
fees. If the operating reserve has more--or less--than 4\1/2\ months of
operating expenses, then FGIS must adjust all Schedule A fees. For each
$1,000,000, rounded down, that the operating reserve varies from the
target of 4\1/2\ months, FGIS will adjust all Schedule A fees by 2
percent. If the operating reserve exceeds the target, all Schedule A
fees will be reduced. If the operating reserve does not meet the
target, all Schedule A fees will be increased. The maximum annual
increase or decrease in fees is 5 percent (7 CFR 800.71(b)(3)(i)-(ii)).
Tonnage fees for the 5-year rolling average tonnage were calculated
on the previous 5 fiscal years (2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023).
Tonnage fees consist of the national tonnage fee and local tonnage fee
and are calculated and rounded to the nearest $0.001 per metric ton.
Calculation of national tonnage fee. The national tonnage fee is
the national program administrative costs for the previous fiscal year
divided by the average yearly tons of export grain officially inspected
and/or weighed by delegated States and designated agencies, excluding
land carrier shipments to Canada and Mexico, and outbound grain
officially inspected and/or weighed by FGIS during the previous 5
fiscal years.
The FY2024 national tonnage fee, prior to the operating reserve
review, is $0.054 per metric ton. The calculation of this fee is based
on FY2023 national administrative costs of $6,250,062, divided by the
5-year rolling tonnage average of 114,983,338 metric tons.
Table 1--National Tonnage Inspected
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fiscal year Metric tons
------------------------------------------------------------------------
2019.................................................... 107,896,235
2020.................................................... 110,090,771
2021.................................................... 136,574,792
2022.................................................... 123,745,530
2023.................................................... 96,609,360
5-year Rolling Average.................................. 114,983,338
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Calculation of local tonnage fee. The local tonnage fee is the
field office administrative costs for the previous fiscal year divided
by the average yearly tons of outbound grain officially inspected and/
or weighed by FGIS field offices during the previous 5 fiscal years.
Table 2--Local Tonnage Inspected by Field Office
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5-year rolling
Field office FY2019 FY2020 FY2021 FY2022 FY2023 average
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
New Orleans............................................. 57,807,378 59,768,303 72,482,289 68,880,711 56,312,940 63,050,324
League City............................................. 7,939,994 9,318,595 12,877,525 8,335,121 5,824,829 8,859,213
Pacific Northwest....................................... 2,530,648 3,331,672 4,136,482 2,720,001 1,754,725 2,894,706
Toledo.................................................. 1,597,584 948,840 1,154,856 1,191,938 790,400 1,136,724
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[[Page 16522]]
The local field office administrative costs for FY2023 and the
FY2024 calculated local field office tonnage fee, prior to the
operating reserve review, are as follows:
Table 3--Local Administrative Costs and Calculated Local Tonnage Fee by
Field Office
------------------------------------------------------------------------
FY2023 local Calculated FY
Field office administrative 2024 local
costs tonnage fee
------------------------------------------------------------------------
New Orleans............................. $715,554 $0.011
League City............................. 672,847 0.076
Pacific Northwest....................... 374,859 0.129
Toledo.................................. 167,053 0.147
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Operating reserve. In order to maintain an operating reserve that
is not less than 3 and not more than 6 months of operating expenses,
FGIS reviewed the value of the operating reserve at the end of FY2023
to ensure that an operating reserve equivalent to 4\1/2\ months of
operating expenses is maintained.
The program operating reserve at the end of FY2023 was ($504,270),
with a monthly operating expense of $2,645,846. The target of 4.5
months of operating reserve is $11,906,307. Therefore, the operating
reserve is $12,410,578 below the 4.5 months target level. Under the
regulations, for each $1,000,000, rounded down, below the target level,
all Schedule A fees must be increased by 2 percent. The operating
reserve is $12.4 million below the target level, indicating a larger
increase in fees would be required to fully restore the operating
reserve. However, section 800.71(b)(3)(i) limits annual fee changes to
5 percent. which will not increase the operating reserve to the minimum
statutory amount of 3 times the monthly operating expenses. In addition
to this fee adjustment, and pursuant to section 800.71(c) of the
regulations and section 7(j)(4) of the USGSA, FGIS is reviewing all
fees to ensure they reflect the true costs of providing and supervising
official service.
As described in this notice, FGIS is increasing all the 2023
Schedule A fees for service in Schedule A in Sec. 800.71(a)(1) by 5
percent for FY2024, including calculated FY2024 national and local
tonnage fees. All Schedule A fees for service are rounded to the
nearest $0.10, except for fees based on tonnage or hundredweight.
Schedule A fees will be outlined in FGIS Directive 9180.74 and
published on the agency's public website. For example, national and
local tonnage fees are adjusted as follows:
Table 4--National Tonnage Fee With Operating Reserve Adjustment and FY2023 Fee
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Calculated
Fee description FY2024 calculation with FY2024 tonnage FY2023 tonnage
operating reserve adjustment fee fee
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
National (Delegated States/Designated $0.054 plus 5% increase ($0.003) $0.057 $0.033
Agencies). equals $0.057.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Table 5--Field Office Tonnage Fee With Operating Reserve Adjustment and FY2023 Fee
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Calculated
FY2024 calculation with FY2024 tonnage FY2023 tonnage
Fee description operating reserve adjustment fee (national fee
+ local)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
New Orleans................................... local fee $0.011 plus 5% $0.069 $0.055
increase ($0.001) equals $0.012.
League City................................... local fee $0.076 plus 5% 0.137 0.108
increase ($0.004) equals $0.080.
Pacific Northwest............................. local fee $0.129 plus 5% 0.192 0.158
increase ($0.006) equals $0.135.
Toledo........................................ local fee $0.147 plus 5% 0.211 0.310
increase ($0.007) equals $0.154.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
All Schedule A fees for service are rounded to the nearest $0.10,
except for fees based on tonnage or hundredweight. Schedule A fees will
be outlined in FGIS Directive 9180.74 and published on the agency's
public website.
Overview of Schedule B Fees (Fees for Supervision of Official
Inspection and Weighing Services Performed by Delegated States and
Designated Agencies in the United States)
FGIS calculates the supervision tonnage fee using the prior year's
actual costs and the 5-year average tonnage of domestic U.S. grain
shipments inspected, weighed, or both, including land carrier shipments
to Canada and Mexico.
Operating reserve adjustment. In order to maintain an operating
reserve of not less than 3 and not more than 6 months, FGIS reviewed
the value of the operating reserve at the end of FY2023 to ensure that
an operating reserve of 6 months is maintained.
[[Page 16523]]
The operating reserve adjustment is the difference between FY2023
ending reserves and the operating reserve threshold, which is
equivalent to 6 months of supervisory costs. FY2023 supervision costs
were $1,186,689. The operating reserve threshold for FY2024 is
calculated by dividing FY2023 supervision costs by 2 ($1,186,689/2 =
$593,345). The FY2023 operating reserve ending balance ($295,535) is
less than the operating reserve threshold ($593,345) by $297,810.
Therefore, the operating reserve adjustment for calendar year 2024 is
$297,810.
Supervision tonnage fee. FGIS adds the total prior year supervision
costs and the operating reserve adjustment, then divides the result by
the previous 5-year average tonnage. If the calculated fee is zero or a
negative value, FGIS will suspend collection of supervision tonnage
fees for the next calendar year.
The supervision tonnage fee for calendar year 2024 is $0.007 per
ton. The calculation, based on FY2023 supervision costs of $1,186,689,
is $1,186,689 plus the operating reserve adjustment of $297,810, which
equals $1,484,499, divided by a 5-year average tonnage of 219,219,620,
which equals $0.007 per ton.
Table 6--Tonnage Supervised
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fiscal year Metric tons
------------------------------------------------------------------------
2019.................................................... 206,693,881
2020.................................................... 237,649,430
2021.................................................... 232,738,700
2022.................................................... 225,570,903
2023.................................................... 193,445,187
5-year Rolling Average.................................. 219,219,620
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Therefore, for 2024, FGIS will assess a supervision tonnage fee of
$0.007 per ton on domestic shipments officially inspected and/or
weighed, including land carrier shipments to Canada and Mexico,
performed by delegated States and/or designated agencies on or after
April 1, 2024. The Schedule B fee will be published in FGIS Directive
9180.74 and on the agency's public website.
7 CFR 800.71(d) Miscellaneous Fees for Other Services Calculations
Registration certificates and renewals. FGIS calculates the
application fee by multiplying the Schedule A non-contract hourly rate
(Table 1 in Sec. 800.71(a)) by a quantity of five. The resulting fee
is expected to cover FGIS personnel costs to review applications, fee
publication expenses, and administrative expenses. The Schedule A non-
contract hourly rate is $73. Thus, the application fee for 2024 will be
$73 times 5, or $365. The fee will be published on the agency's public
website after Federal Register publication.
Designation amendments. FGIS calculates the rate using the Federal
Register publication rate for three columns, plus one hour of
noncontract hourly rate from Sec. 800.71(a) Table 1 of Schedule A. The
fee covers FGIS personnel costs, administrative expenses, and costs for
publishing notices regarding the designation of official service
providers in the Federal Register. The Federal Register publication
rate is $151 per column, and the Schedule A non-contract hourly rate is
$73. FGIS calculates the fee will be $526 for calendar year 2024. The
fee will be published on the agency's public website after Federal
Register publication.
Authority: 7 U.S.C. 71-87k.
Melissa Bailey,
Associate Administrator, Agricultural Marketing Service.
[FR Doc. 2024-04838 Filed 3-6-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE P
