7 U.S.C. § 76 — Standards and procedures; establishment, amendment, and revocation

(a) Authority of Secretary: The Secretary of Agriculture may investigate how grain is handled, weighed, graded, and transported, and may set (1) standards of kind, class, quality, and condition for corn, wheat, rye, oats, barley, flaxseed, sorghum, soybeans, mixed grain, and any other grains that trade practices justify, and (2) standards or procedures for accurate weighing, weight certification, and controls — including safeguards for calibrating and maintaining equipment — for grain shipped across state or national lines. The Secretary may amend or cancel these standards or procedures whenever trade needs require it. (b) Notice and opportunity for comment; standards regarding cleanliness of grain: (1) Before setting, amending, or cancelling any standard, the Secretary must publish notice of the proposal and let interested people submit data, views, and arguments, including — on request — an informal opportunity to present them in person. New or changed standards cannot take effect less than one full year after they are announced, unless the Secretary decides public health, interest, or safety requires faster action. (2)(A) If the Secretary determines that setting or amending cleanliness standards for grade 3 or better wheat, corn, barley, sorghum, and soybeans would: (I) make U.S. exports of those grains more competitive against other major exporting countries; (II) maintain or grow the U.S. export market share for them; (III) maintain or increase U.S. producer income; and (IV) serve the interests of U.S. agriculture, considering technical limits, costs and benefits to producers and industry, price competitiveness, and buyers' needs — then the Secretary must set or amend the standards to include practical, economically and commercially sound cleanliness levels for those grains. The Secretary had to make this finding as soon as practical after November 28, 1990. (B) In setting cleanliness requirements, the Secretary must: (I) consider technical limits, costs and benefits to producers and industry, U.S. price competitiveness, and the cleanliness levels of major competing exporting nations; (II) issue regulations only after public notice and comment; and (III) phase in any new cleanliness requirements gradually, by incrementally lowering the allowed amount of unwanted material in grade 3-or-better shipments. After that phase-in period, later changes to cleanliness rules follow the Secretary's regular schedule for reviewing grain standards. (C) If the Secretary decides to set cleanliness requirements, they must be fully in effect no later than six years after November 28, 1990. (c) Grade determining factors related to physical soundness and purity; notice and opportunity for comment: (1) When setting standards under (a) for a grain that has official grades, the Secretary must set grade-determining factors and limits for that grain that reflect the soundness and purity levels expected by the grain's major foreign and domestic users. For grades 3 and better, these factors must give users the best possible information about end-use product quality, and must ensure that grain meeting grade 3 or better performs the way the trade generally expects for that grain's main uses. (2) Before changing these factors or limits, the Secretary must give public notice and a chance to comment. (d) Moisture content criterion: If a foreign government asks that moisture content remain part of the official grade rules, that criterion must stay part of determining the official grade for grain shipped to that country.