[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 115 (Thursday, June 16, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-14587]
[[Page Unknown]]
[Federal Register: June 16, 1994]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
7 CFR Part 926
[Docket No. FV94-926-1IFR]
Tokay Grapes Grown in San Joaquin County, California; Expenses
and Assessment Rate for 1994-95 Fiscal Year
AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA.
ACTION: Interim final rule with request for comments.
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SUMMARY: This interim final rule authorizes expenditures and
establishes an assessment rate for the Tokay Grape Industry Committee
(committee) under Marketing Order (M.O.) No. 926 for the 1994-95 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.
DATES: Effective beginning April 1, 1994, through March 31, 1995.
Comments received by July 18, 1994, will be considered prior to
issuance of a final rule.
ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit written comments
concerning this interim final rule. Comments must be sent in triplicate
to the Docket Clerk, Fruit and Vegetable Division, AMS, USDA, P.O. Box
96456, Room 2523-S, Washington, D.C. 20090-6456. Fax # (202) 720-5698.
Comments should reference the docket number and the date and page
number of this issue of the Federal Register and will be available for
public inspection in the Office of the Docket Clerk during regular
business hours.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Britthany Beadle, Marketing Order
Administration Branch, Fruit and Vegetable Division, AMS, USDA, P.O.
Box 96456, Room 2523-S, Washington, D.C. 20090-6456, telephone:(202)
720-5127; or Peter I. Parks, California Marketing Field Office, Fruit
and Vegetable Division, AMS, USDA, 2202 Monterey Street, Suite 102 B,
Fresno, California 93721, telephone: (209) 487-5901.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This interim final rule is issued under
Marketing Agreement and Order No. 926 [7 CFR Part 926] regulating the
handling of Tokay grapes grown in San Joaquin County, 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 of Agriculture (Department) is issuing this rule in
conformance with Executive Order 12866.
This interim final rule has been reviewed under Executive Order
12778, Civil Justice Reform. Under the marketing order provisions now
in effect, Tokay grapes grown in California are subject to assessments.
It is intended that the assessment rate specified herein will be
applicable to all assessable Tokay grapes handled during the 1994-95
fiscal year, beginning April 1, 1994, through March 31, 1995. This
interim 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 three handlers of Tokay grapes regulated under the
marketing order each season and approximately 15 Tokay grape producers
in San Joaquin County, California. 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 these handlers and producers
may be classified as small entities.
The Tokay grape marketing order, administered by the Department,
requires that the assessment rate for a particular fiscal year apply to
all assessable grapes 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 grape handlers and producers. 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 grapes.
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 April 29, 1994, and unanimously recommended
total expenditures of $5,150 with an assessment rate of $0.07 per
carton for the 1994-95 fiscal year. In comparison, the expenditure
amount and the assessment rate are remaining unchanged from the 1993-94
fiscal year.
Funds in the reserve at the end of the 1994-95 fiscal year,
estimated at $4,500, will be within the maximum permitted by the order
of one fiscal year's expenses.
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.
After consideration of all relevant matter presented, including the
information and recommendations submitted by the committee 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.
Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553, it is also found and determined upon good
cause that it is impracticable, unnecessary, and contrary to the public
interest to give preliminary notice prior to putting this rule into
effect and that good cause exists for not postponing the effective date
of this action until 30 days after publication in the Federal Register
because: (1) The committee needs to have sufficient funds to pay its
expenses which are incurred on a continuous basis; (2) the fiscal year
for the committee began April 1, 1994, and the marketing order requires
that the rate of assessment for the fiscal year apply to all assessable
grapes handled during the fiscal year; (3) handlers are aware of this
action which was unanimously recommended by the committee at a public
meeting and which is similar to budgets issued in past years; and (4)
this interim final rule provides a 30-day comment period, and all
comments timely received will be considered prior to finalization of
this action.
List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 926
Grapes, Marketing agreements, Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements.
For the reasons set forth in the preamble, 7 CFR Part 926 is
amended as follows:
PART 926--TOKAY GRAPES GROWN IN SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY, CA
1. The authority citation for 7 CFR Part 926 continues to read as
follows:
Authority: 7 U.S.C. 601-674.
2. A new Sec. 926.233 is added to read as follows:
Note: This section will not appear in the annual Code of Federal
Regulations.
Sec. 926.233 Expenses and assessment rate.
Expenses of $5,150 by the Tokay Grape Industry Committee are
authorized and an assessment rate of $0.07 per carton of assessable
grapes is established for the fiscal year ending March 31, 1995.
Unexpended funds may be carried over as a reserve.
Dated: June 9, 1994.
Eric M. Forman,
Deputy Director, Fruit and Vegetable Division.
[FR Doc. 94-14587 Filed 6-15-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-02-P
