[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 116 (Wednesday, June 17, 1998)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 32966-32969]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-16091]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Agricultural Marketing Service
7 CFR Part 953
[Docket No. FV98-953-1 IFR]
Irish Potatoes Grown in Southeastern States; Increased Assessment
Rate
AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA.
ACTION: Interim final rule with request for comments.
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SUMMARY: This rule increases the assessment rate established for the
Southeastern Potato Committee (Committee) under Marketing Order No. 953
for the 1998-99 and subsequent fiscal periods from $0.0075 to $0.01 per
hundredweight of potatoes handled. The Committee is responsible for
local administration of the marketing order
[[Page 32967]]
which regulates the handling of Irish potatoes grown in two
southeastern States (Virginia and North Carolina). Authorization to
assess potato handlers enables the Committee to incur expenses that are
reasonable and necessary to administer the program. The fiscal period
begins June 1 and ends May 31. The assessment rate will remain in
effect indefinitely unless modified, suspended, or terminated.
DATES: Effective June 18, 1998. Comments received by July 17, 1998 will
be considered prior to issuance of a final rule.
ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit written comments
concerning this rule. Comments must be sent to the Docket Clerk,
Marketing Order Administration Branch, Fruit and Vegetable Programs,
AMS, USDA, P.O. Box 96456, room 2525-S, Washington, DC 20090-6456; Fax
202-205-6632. 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: Jim Wendland, DC Marketing Field
Office, Marketing Order Administration Branch, Fruit and Vegetable
Programs, AMS, USDA, P.O. Box 96456, room 2525-S, Washington, DC 20090-
6456; telephone: 202-720-2491, Fax: 202-205-6632. Small businesses may
request information on compliance with this regulation by contacting
Jay Guerber, also at the above address, telephone, and Fax.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This rule is issued under Marketing
Agreement No. 104 and Order No. 953, both as amended (7 CFR part 953),
regulating the handling of Irish potatoes grown in two southeastern
States (Virginia and North Carolina), hereinafter referred to as the
``order.'' The order is 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 rule has been reviewed under Executive Order 12988, Civil
Justice Reform. Under the marketing order now in effect, Virginia-North
Carolina potato handlers are subject to assessments. Funds to
administer the order are derived from such assessments. It is intended
that the assessment rate as issued herein will be applicable to all
assessable potatoes beginning June 1, 1998, and continuing until
amended, suspended, or terminated. 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 to review the
Secretary's ruling on the petition, provided an action is filed not
later than 20 days after the date of the entry of the ruling.
This rule increases the assessment rate established for the
Committee for the 1998-99 and subsequent fiscal periods from $0.0075 to
$0.01 per hundredweight of potatoes handled.
The order provides authority for the Committee, with the approval
of the Department, to formulate an annual budget of expenses and
collect assessments from handlers to administer the program. The
Committee consists of seven producer members and five handler members,
each of whom is familiar with the Committee's needs and with the costs
for goods and services in their local area and are thus in a position
to formulate an appropriate budget and assessment rate. The budget and
assessment rate were formulated and discussed in a public meeting.
Thus, all directly affected persons had an opportunity to participate
and provide input.
For the 1996-97 and subsequent fiscal periods the Committee
recommended, and the Department approved, an assessment rate of $0.0075
per hundredweight of potatoes handled that would continue in effect
from fiscal period to fiscal period unless modified, suspended, or
terminated by the Secretary upon recommendation and information
submitted by the Committee or other information available to the
Secretary.
The Committee met on April 16, 1998, and unanimously recommended
1998-99 expenditures of $12,000, the same as last year. The major
expenditures include $7,700 for the manager's and secretarial salaries
and $1,000 for travel expenses. These and all other expense items are
budgeted at last year's amounts.
Regarding the assessment rate, after considering several options,
the Committee concluded that the current $0.0075 per hundredweight
would not be adequate for the 1998-99 fiscal period for the following
reasons. The Committee's operating reserve is only $5,000 and is
expected to be quickly exhausted. This reserve is the lowest ever for
any of the Committee's fiscal periods except one. Also, wet fields
caused delayed plantings and unfavorable growing conditions, resulting
in potato plant stands estimated to be 20 percent below normal. As a
result of this and other factors, the Committee projects that during
the industry's brief, predominately June and July, shipping and
assessing period, its total potato volume to be handled will be down at
least 100,000 hundredweight. Therefore, the Committee unanimously
recommended an assessment rate of $0.01 per hundredweight, $0.0025
higher than the rate currently in effect.
The assessment rate recommended by the Committee was based on
projected shipments of 1,200,000 hundredweight of Southeastern
potatoes, which should provide $12,000 in assessment income. Income
derived from handler assessments, along with funds from the Committee's
authorized operating reserve, will be adequate to cover budgeted
expenses. Funds in the reserve at the beginning of the 1997-98 fiscal
period are estimated at only $5,000. Funds in the reserve will be kept
within the maximum permitted by the order of approximately one fiscal
period's expenses of $12,000 (Sec. 953.35).
The assessment rate established in this rule will continue in
effect indefinitely unless modified, suspended, or terminated by the
Secretary upon recommendation and information submitted by the
Committee or other available information.
Although this assessment rate is effective for an indefinite
period, the Committee will continue to meet prior to or during each
fiscal period to recommend a budget of expenses and consider
recommendations for modification of the assessment rate. The dates and
times of Committee meetings are available from the Committee or the
Department. Committee meetings are open to the public and interested
persons may express their views at these meetings. The Department will
evaluate Committee recommendations and other available information to
determine whether modification of the assessment
[[Page 32968]]
rate is needed. Further rulemaking will be undertaken as necessary. The
Committee's 1998-99 budget and those for subsequent fiscal periods will
be reviewed and, as appropriate, approved by the Department.
Pursuant to requirements set forth in the Regulatory Flexibility
Act (RFA), the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) has considered the
economic impact of this rule on small entities. Accordingly, AMS has
prepared this initial regulatory flexibility analysis.
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 85 producers of Southeastern potatoes in
the production area and approximately 40 handlers subject to regulation
under the marketing order. 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 Southeastern potato producers and handlers
may be classified as small entities.
This rule increases the assessment rate established for the
Southeastern Potato Committee and collected from handlers for the 1998-
99 and subsequent fiscal periods from $0.0075 per hundredweight to
$0.01 per hundredweight of potatoes handled. Both the $0.01 assessment
rate and the 1998-99 budget of $12,000 were unanimously recommended by
the Committee at its April 16, 1998, meeting. The assessment rate
established by this action is $0.0025 higher than the 1997-98 rate. The
Committee recommended an increased assessment rate to help offset the
smaller projected crop of assessable Southeastern potatoes in 1998. The
anticipated crop of 1,200,000 hundredweight is approximately 100,000
hundredweight less than the 1997 crop. The $0.01 rate should provide
$12,000 in assessment income which will be adequate to meet the 1998-99
fiscal period's budgeted expenses.
The Committee discussed leaving the assessment at the current
$0.0075 rate but determined that since the crop is estimated to be only
1,200,000 hundredweight, which is 20 percent below normal, that this
would not generate enough income to meet budgeted expenses without
exhausting the $5,000 operating reserve.
The major expenditures recommended by the Committee for the 1998-99
fiscal period include $7,700 for the manager's and secretarial salaries
and $1,000 for travel expenses. These and all other expense items are
budgeted at last year's amounts.
A review of historical information and preliminary information
pertaining to the upcoming season indicates that the grower price for
the 1998-99 potato season could average $8.60 per hundredweight of
potatoes. Shipments for 1998 are expected to be 1,200,000
hundredweight. Therefore, the estimated assessment revenue for the
1998-99 fiscal period ($12,000) as a percentage of the projected total
crop value ($10,320,000) could be .1163 percent.
While assessments impose some additional costs on handlers, the
assessment is minimal and uniform on all handlers. Some of the
additional costs may be passed on to producers. However, these costs
will be offset by the benefits derived by the operation of the order.
In addition, the Committee's meeting was widely publicized throughout
the Southeastern potato industry and all interested persons were
invited to attend the meeting and participate in Committee
deliberations on all issues. Like all Committee meetings, the April 16,
1998, meeting was a public meeting and all entities, both large and
small, were able to express views on this issue. Finally, interested
persons are invited to submit information on the regulatory and
informational impacts of this action on small businesses.
This action imposes no additional reporting or recordkeeping
requirements on either small or large Southeastern potato handlers. As
with all Federal marketing order programs, reports and forms are
periodically reviewed to reduce information requirements and
duplication by industry and public sector agencies.
The Department has not identified any relevant Federal rules that
duplicate, overlap, or conflict with this rule.
A 30-day comment period is provided to allow interested persons to
submit written comments. Thirty days is deemed appropriate because a
final decision on the assessment rate increase needs to be made as
close as possible to the end of the 1998 shipping season.
After consideration of all relevant material presented, including
the information and recommendation 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 rule 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. Its
operating reserve funds are very low and are expected to be exhausted
before sufficient assessments can be collected during the very brief,
predominately June and July, shipping and assessing period to pay
critical expenses; (2) the 1998-99 fiscal period began on June 1, 1998,
and the order requires that the rate of assessment for each fiscal
period apply to all assessable Irish potatoes handled during such
fiscal period; (3) handlers are aware of this action which was
unanimously recommended by the Committee at a public meeting and is
similar to other assessment rate actions 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 rule.
List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 953
Marketing agreements, Potatoes, Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements.
For the reasons set forth in the preamble, 7 CFR part 953 is
amended as follows:
PART 953--IRISH POTATOES GROWN IN SOUTHEASTERN STATES
1. The authority citation for 7 CFR part 953 continues to read as
follows:
Authority: 7 U.S.C. 601-674.
2. Section 953.253 is revised to read as follows:
Sec. 953.253 Assessment rate.
On and after June 1, 1998, an assessment rate of $0.01 per
hundredweight is established for Southeastern States potatoes.
[[Page 32969]]
Dated: June 12, 1998.
Robert C. Keeney,
Deputy Administrator, Fruit and Vegetable Programs.
[FR Doc. 98-16091 Filed 6-16-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-02-P
