[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 214 (Monday, November 7, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-27521]
[[Page Unknown]]
[Federal Register: November 7, 1994]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
7 CFR Part 927
[Docket No. FV94-927-1FIR]
Expenses and Assessment Rate for the 1994-95 Fiscal Year; Winter
Pears Grown in Oregon, Washington, and California
AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA.
ACTION: Final rule.
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SUMMARY: The Department of Agriculture (Department) is adopting as a
final rule, without change, the provisions of the interim final rule
which authorized expenses and established an assessment rate for the
Winter Pear Control Committee (Committee) under Marketing Order No. 927
for the 1994-95 fiscal year. Authorization of this budget enables the
Committee to incur expenses that are reasonable and necessary to
administer the program. Funds to administer the program are derived
from assessments on handlers.
EFFECTIVE DATE: July 1, 1994, through June 30, 1995.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Britthany E. Beadle, Marketing Order
Administration Branch, Fruit and Vegetable Division, AMS, USDA, P.O.
Box 96456, Room 2523-S, Washington, DC. 20090-6456, telephone: (202)
720-5127; or Teresa L. Hutchinson, Northwest Marketing Field Office,
Fruit and Vegetable Division, AMS, Green-Wyatt Federal Building, Room
369, Portland, Oregon, telephone: (503) 326-2724.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This final rule is issued under Marketing
Agreement and Order No. 927 [7 CFR Part 927] regulating the handling of
winter pears grown in Oregon, Washington, and California. The 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 final rule has been reviewed under Executive Order 12778,
Civil Justice Reform. Under the marketing order provisions now in
effect, winter pears grown in Oregon, Washington, and California are
subject to assessments. It is intended that the assessment rate
specified herein will be applicable to all assessable pears handled
during the 1994-95 fiscal year, which began July 1, 1994, and ends June
30, 1995. This final 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 requesting 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 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 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 90 handlers of winter pears regulated under
the marketing order each season and approximately 1,850 winter pear
producers in Oregon, Washington, and California. Small agricultural
producers have been defined by the Small Business Administration [13
CFR Sec. 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 these
handlers and producers may be classified as small entities.
The Oregon, Washington, and California winter pear marketing order,
administered by the Department, requires that the assessment rate for a
particular fiscal year apply to all assessable winter pears handled
from the beginning of such year. Annual budgets of expenses are
prepared by the Committee, the agency responsible for local
administration of this marketing order, and submitted to the Department
for approval. The members of the Committee are handlers and producers
of Oregon, Washington, and California winter pears. They are familiar
with the Committee's needs and with the costs for goods, services, and
personnel in their local area, and are thus in a position to formulate
appropriate budgets. The Committee's budget is formulated and discussed
in public meetings. Thus, all directly affected persons have an
opportunity to participate and provide input.
The assessment rate recommended by the Committee is derived by
dividing the anticipated expenses by expected shipments of pears.
Because this rate is applied to actual shipments, it must be
established at a rate which will provide sufficient income to pay the
Committee's expected expenses.
The Committee met on June 3, 1994, and unanimously recommended
total expenses of $6,835,926 for the 1994-95 fiscal year. In
comparison, the 1993-94 fiscal year expense amount was $6,933,615,
which is $97,689 more than the amount recommended for the current
fiscal year.
The Committee also unanimously recommended an assessment rate of
$0.43 per standard box, or equivalent for winter pears. The Committee
did not recommend a supplemental assessment rate for Anjou variety
pears this fiscal year. In comparison, the 1993-94 winter pear
assessment rate was $0.45 per standard box, or equivalent and $0.04 for
the supplemental assessment rate on Anjou variety pears. This
represents a $0.02 decrease in the assessment rate recommended for this
fiscal year.
This rate, when applied to anticipated winter pear shipments of
13,817,000 boxes or equivalent, will yield a total of $5,941,310 in
assessment income. Assessment income, along with $401,324 from other
income sources, and $493,292 from the Committee's authorized reserve,
will be adequate to cover budgeted expenses. The $493,292 withdrawal of
funds from the Committee's authorized reserve will result in no reserve
remaining at the end of the 1994-95 fiscal period.
Major expense categories for the 1994-95 fiscal year include
$5,572,500 for advertising, $276,340 for SOPP data research, $276,340
for winter pear improvement, $142,310 for salaries and benefits, and
$612,442 for unshared contingency.
An interim final rule was issued on August 22, 1994, and published
in the Federal Register [59 FR 44023, August 26, 1994] and provided a
30-day comment period for interested persons. No comments were
received.
While this action will impose some additional costs on handlers,
the costs are in the form of uniform assessments on all handlers. Some
of the additional costs may be passed on to producers. However, these
costs should be significantly 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.
It is found that the specified expenses for the marketing order
covered in this rule are reasonable and likely to be incurred and that
such expenses and the specified assessment rate to cover such expenses
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 action until 30 days after publication in the
Federal Register [5 U.S.C. 553] because the Committee needs to have
sufficient funds to pay its expenses which are incurred on a continuous
basis. The 1994-95 fiscal year for the program began July 1, 1994. The
marketing order requires that the rate of assessment apply to all
assessable winter pears handled during the fiscal year. In addition,
handlers are aware of this action which was recommended by the
Committee at a public meeting and published in the Federal Register as
an interim final rule. No comments were received concerning the interim
final rule that is adopted in this action as a final rule without
change.
List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 927
Marketing agreements and orders, Pears, Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements.
For the reasons set forth in the preamble, 7 CFR Part 927 is
amended as follows:
PART 927--WINTER PEARS GROWN IN OREGON, WASHINGTON, AND CALIFORNIA
Accordingly, the interim final rule amending 7 CFR Part 927 which
was published at 59 FR 44023 on August 26, 1994, is adopted as a final
rule without change.
Dated: November 1, 1994.
Eric M. Forman,
Deputy Director, Fruit and Vegetable Division.
[FR Doc. 94-27521 Filed 11-4-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-02-P
