[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 191 (Tuesday, October 3, 1995)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 51667-51669]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-24571]
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[[Page 51668]]
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Agricultural Marketing Service
7 CFR Part 982
[Docket No. FV95-982-1FIR]
Filberts/Hazelnuts Grown in Oregon and Washington; Expenses and
Assessment Rate
AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA.
ACTION: Final rule.
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SUMMARY: The Department of Agriculture (Department) is adopting as a
final rule, with appropriate changes, the provisions of an interim
final rule that authorized expenses and established an assessment rate
that generated funds to pay those expenses under Marketing Order No.
982 for the 1995-96 marketing year. Authorization of this budget
enables the Filbert/Hazelnut Marketing Board (Board) to incur expenses
that are reasonable and necessary to administer the program. Funds to
administer this program are derived from assessments on handlers.
EFFECTIVE DATE: July 1, 1995, through June 30, 1996.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Martha Sue Clark, Marketing Order
Administration Branch, Fruit and Vegetable Division, AMS, USDA, P.O.
Box 96456, room 2523-S, Washington, DC 20090-6456, telephone 202-720-
9918, or Teresa L. Hutchinson, Northwest Marketing Field Office, Fruit
and Vegetable Division, AMS, USDA, Green-Wyatt Federal Building, room
369, 1220 Southwest Third Avenue, Portland, OR 97204, telephone 503-
326-2724.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This rule is issued under Marketing
Agreement and Order No. 982, both as amended (7 CFR part 982),
regulating the handling of filberts/hazelnuts grown in Oregon and
Washington. The marketing agreement and order are effective under the
Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act of 1937, as amended (7 U.S.C. 601-
674), hereinafter referred to as the Act.
The Department is issuing this rule in conformance with Executive
Order 12866.
This rule has been reviewed under Executive Order 12778, Civil
Justice Reform. Under the marketing order now in effect, Oregon-
Washington filberts/hazelnuts are subject to assessments. Funds to
administer the Oregon-Washington filbert/hazelnut order are derived
from such assessments. It is intended that the assessment rate as
issued herein will be applicable to all assessable filberts/hazelnuts
during the 1995-96 marketing year which began July 1, 1995, and ends
June 30, 1996. This rule will not preempt any State or local laws,
regulations, or policies, unless they present an irreconcilable
conflict with this rule.
The Act provides that administrative proceedings must be exhausted
before parties may file suit in court. Under section 608c(15)(A) of the
Act, any handler subject to an order may file with the Secretary a
petition stating that the order, any provision of the order, or any
obligation imposed in connection with the order is not in accordance
with law and request a modification of the order or to be exempted
therefrom. Such handler is afforded the opportunity for a hearing on
the petition. After the hearing the Secretary would rule on the
petition. The Act provides that the district court of the United States
in any district in which the handler is an inhabitant, or has his or
her principal place of business, has jurisdiction in equity to review
the Secretary's ruling on the petition, provided a bill in equity is
filed not later than 20 days after the date of the entry of the ruling.
Pursuant to the requirements set forth in the Regulatory
Flexibility Act (RFA), the Administrator of the Agricultural Marketing
Service (AMS) has considered the economic impact of this rule on small
entities.
The purpose of the RFA is to fit regulatory actions to the scale of
business subject to such actions in order that small businesses will
not be unduly or disproportionately burdened. Marketing orders issued
pursuant to the Act, and the rules issued thereunder, are unique in
that they are brought about through group action of essentially small
entities acting on their own behalf. Thus, both statutes have small
entity orientation and compatibility.
There are approximately 1,000 producers of Oregon and Washington
filberts/hazelnuts under this marketing order, and approximately 25
handlers. Small agricultural producers have been defined by the Small
Business Administration (13 CFR 121.601) as those having annual
receipts of less than $500,000, and small agricultural service firms
are defined as those whose annual receipts are less than $5,000,000.
The majority of Oregon and Washington filbert/hazelnut producers and
handlers may be classified as small entities.
The budget of expenses for the 1995-96 marketing year was prepared
by the Filbert/Hazelnut Marketing Board, the agency responsible for
local administration of the marketing order, and submitted to the
Department for approval. The members of the Board are producers and
handlers of filberts/hazelnuts. They are familiar with the Board's
needs and with the costs of goods and services in their local area and
are thus in a position to formulate an appropriate budget.
The assessment rate recommended by the Board was derived by
dividing anticipated expenses by the expected quantity of assessable
filberts/hazelnuts handled. Because that rate will be applied to the
actual quantity of filberts/hazelnuts, it must be established at a rate
that will provide sufficient income to pay the Board's expenses.
The Board, in a mail vote conducted last April, unanimously
recommended a 1995-96 budget of $483,685, $23,325 less than the
previous year. Budget items for 1995-96 which had increased compared to
those budgeted for 1994-95 (in parentheses) are: Personal services
(salaries), $50,735 ($48,000), postage, $3,000 ($1,800),
communications, $1,200 ($1,100), printing and publishing, $2,400
($2,300), insurance, $700 ($650), rent, $5,650 ($5,560), utilities,
$850 ($800), equipment maintenance and rental, $1,500 ($1,400), and
office supplies, $2,000 ($1,500). Items which had decreased compared to
those budgeted for 1994-95 (in parentheses) are: Computer services,
$750 ($1,500), furniture, $250 ($1,500), equipment, $250 ($1,500), and
research ($25,000) for which no funding was recommended this year. All
other items were budgeted at last year's amounts, including $250,000
for promotion.
The Board also unanimously recommended an assessment rate of $0.007
per pound, the same as last year. At the time of the mail vote,
assessable shipments were estimated at 60,000,000 pounds. This rate,
when applied to anticipated shipments of 60,000,000 pounds, yields
$420,000 in assessment income. This, along with $5,000 in interest
income, $2,572 from the Nut Growers Society in payment for services
performed by the Board under an agreement with the Society, and $56,113
from the Board's authorized reserve, was adequate to cover budgeted
expenses. Funds in the reserve as of July 31, 1995, were $286,673,
which is within the maximum permitted by the order of one marketing
year's expenses.
An interim final rule was published in the Federal Register on
August 7, 1995 (60 FR 40061). That interim final rule added
Sec. 982.339 to authorize expenses and establish an assessment rate for
the Board. That rule provided that interested persons could file
written comments through September 6, 1995. The manager informed the
Department of the Board's August 28, 1995, meeting recommendation to
increase the level of authorized expenses.
[[Page 51669]]
Subsequent to the recommendation of the initial budget, a new Board
employee was hired, necessitating increased funding for personal
services. At its August 28, 1995, meeting the Board recommended this
increase, plus changes in five other line item categories. Budget items
for 1995-96, which have increased compared to the interim budget (in
parentheses) are: Personal services, $60,735 ($50,735), auditing,
$4,000 ($3,500), furniture, $750 ($250), equipment, $2,250 ($250), and
emergency fund $202,800 ($140,000). The item which has decreased
compared to the interim budget (in parentheses) is: Promotion, $244,200
($250,000). These changes will result in a total budget of $553,685,
$70,000 more than the interim budget, and $46,675 more than the 1994-95
budget.
Based on current crop information, the Board anticipates a
10,000,000 pound increase in assessable shipments to 70,000,000 pounds.
This will result in an additional $70,000 in assessment income. As a
consequence, total assessment income will total $490,000. This together
with funds from the sources mentioned earlier will provide adequate
funds to cover the increased expenses, so no change in the assessment
rate was recommended.
While this action will impose some additional costs on handlers,
the costs are in the form of uniform assessments on handlers. Some of
the additional costs may be passed on to producers. However, these
costs will be offset by the benefits derived from the operation of the
marketing order. Therefore, the Administrator of the AMS has determined
that this action will not have a significant economic impact on a
substantial number of small entities.
After consideration of all relevant matter presented, including the
information and recommendations submitted by the Board and other
available information, it is hereby found that this rule, as
hereinafter set forth, will tend to effectuate the declared policy of
the Act.
It is further found that good cause exists for not postponing the
effective date of this rule until 30 days after publication in the
Federal Register (5 U.S.C. 553) because the Board needs to have
sufficient funds to pay its expenses which are incurred on a continuous
basis. The 1995-96 fiscal period began on July 1, 1995. The marketing
order requires that the rate of assessment for the fiscal period apply
to all assessable filberts/hazelnuts handled during the fiscal period.
In addition, handlers are aware of this rule which was unanimously
recommended by the Board in a mail vote, published in the Federal
Register as an interim final rule, and subsequently reviewed at a
public meeting.
List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 982
Filberts, Hazelnuts, Marketing agreements, Nuts, Reporting and
recordkeeping requirements.
For the reasons set forth in the preamble, 7 CFR part 982 is
amended as follows:
Accordingly, the interim final rule adding Sec. 982.339 which was
published at 60 FR 40061 on August 7, 1995, is adopted as a final rule
with the following change:
PART 982--FILBERTS/HAZELNUTS GROWN IN OREGON AND WASHINGTON
1. The authority citation for 7 CFR part 982 continues to read as
follows:
Authority: 7 U.S.C. 601-674.
2. Section 982.339 is revised to read as follows:
Note: This section will not appear in the Code of Federal
Regulations.
Sec. 959.339 Expenses and assessment rate.
Expenses of $553,685 by the Filbert/Hazelnut Marketing Board are
authorized, and an assessment rate of $0.007 per pound of assessable
filberts/hazelnuts is established for the marketing year ending June
30, 1996. Unexpended funds may be carried over as a reserve.
Dated: September 27, 1995.
Sharon Bomer Lauritsen,
Deputy Director, Fruit and Vegetable Division.
[FR Doc. 95-24571 Filed 10-2-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-02-P
