[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 112 (Monday, June 12, 1995)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 30786-30788]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-14281]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
7 CFR Part 985
[Docket No. FV95-985-1FIR]
Spearmint Oil Produced in the Far West; Expenses and Assessment
Rate for the 1995-96 Fiscal Year
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 an interim final rule
that authorized expenses and established an assessment rate for the
Spearmint Oil Administrative Committee (Committee) under Marketing
Order No. 985 for the 1995-96 fiscal year. Authorization of this budget
enables the Committee to incur expenses that are reasonable and
necessary to administer this program. Funds to administer this program
are derived from assessments on handlers.
EFFECTIVE DATE: June 1, 1995, through May 31, 1996.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Caroline C. Thorpe, 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 Robert Curry, Northwest Marketing Field Office, Fruit and
Vegetable Division, AMS, USDA, 1220 [[Page 30787]] SW. Third Avenue,
room 369, Portland, Oregon 97204, telephone: (503)326-2724.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This final rule is issued under Marketing
Agreement and Order No. 985 (7 CFR part 985), regulating the handling
of spearmint oil produced in the Far West. 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 final rule has been reviewed under Executive Order 12778,
Civil Justice Reform. Under the marketing order provisions now in
effect, spearmint oil produced in the Far West is subject to
assessments. It is intended that the assessment rate specified herein
will be applicable to all assessable oil produced during the 1995-96
fiscal year, beginning June 1, 1995, through May 31, 1996. 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 8 handlers of spearmint oil regulated under the marketing
order each season and approximately 260 spearmint oil producers in the
Far West. 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. A
minority of these producers and handlers may be classified as small
entities.
The marketing order, administered by the Department, requires that
the assessment rate for a particular fiscal year apply to all
assessable spearmint oil 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 spearmint oil. 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 a public meeting. 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 spearmint
oil. Because that 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 February 22, 1995, and unanimously recommended
a total expense amount of $233,272 for its 1995-96 budget. This is
$4,567 less in expenses than the 1994-95 budget.
The Committee also unanimously recommended an assessment rate of
$.10 per pound for the 1995-96 fiscal year, which is $.01 more than the
assessment rate from the 1994-95 fiscal year. The assessment rate, when
applied to anticipated shipments of 2,000,000 pounds from the 1995-96
spearmint oil production, would yield $200,000 in assessment income.
This, along with approximately $24,272 from the Committee's authorized
reserves, and $9,000 interest will be adequate to cover estimated
expenses.
Major expense categories for the 1995-96 fiscal year include
$101,300 for salaries, $20,000 for market development, and $23,000 for
travel. Funds in the reserve at the beginning of the 1995-96 fiscal
year are estimated at $160,000, which is within the maximum permitted
by the order of one fiscal year's expenses.
An interim final rule was issued on March 28, 1995, and published
in the Federal Register on April 3, 1995 (60 FR 16770). That rule
provided a 30-day comment period which ended May 3, 1995. 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 1995-96 fiscal year starts on June 1, 1995, and the
marketing order requires that the rate of assessment for the fiscal
year apply to all assessable spearmint oil handled during the fiscal
year. In addition, handlers are aware of this rule which was
recommended by the Committee at a public meeting and published in the
Federal Register as an interim final rule with a 30-day comment period.
No comments were received and the interim final rule is adopted without
change.
List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 985
Marketing agreements, Oils and fats, Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements, Spearmint oil.
For the reasons set forth in the preamble, 7 CFR part 985 is
amended as follows:
PART 985--MARKETING ORDER REGULATING THE HANDLING OF SPEARMINT OIL
PRODUCED IN THE FAR WEST
Accordingly, the interim final rule amending 7 CFR part 985 which
was [[Page 30788]] published at 60 FR 16770 on April 3, 1995, is
adopted a final rule without change.
Dated: June 6, 1995.
Sharon Bomer Lauritsen,
Deputy Director, Fruit and Vegetable Division.
[FR Doc. 95-14281 Filed 6-9-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-02-P
