[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 147 (Tuesday, August 1, 1995)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 39105-39107]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-18786]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
7 CFR Part 948
[Docket No. FV95-948-1FIR]
Irish Potatoes Grown in Colorado; 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, without change, the provisions of an interim final rule
that authorized expenses and established an assessment rate that
generated funds to pay those expenses. Authorization of this budget
enables the Colorado Potato Administrative Committee, Northern Colorado
Office (Area III) (Committee) 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, PO Box
96456, room 2523-S, Washington, DC 20090-6456, telephone 202-720-9918,
or Dennis L. West, 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.
[[Page 39106]]
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This rule is issued under Marketing
Agreement No. 97 and Order No. 948, both as amended (7 CFR part 948),
regulating the handling of Irish potatoes grown in Colorado. 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 provisions of the marketing order now in
effect, Colorado potatoes are subject to assessments. Funds to
administer the Colorado potato marketing order are derived from such
assessments. It is intended that the assessment rate as issued herein
will be applicable to all assessable potatoes during the 1995-96 fiscal
period, which began July 1, 1995, and ends June 30, 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 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 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 85 producers of Colorado Area III potatoes
under the marketing order and approximately 15 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
Colorado Area III potato producers and handlers may be classified as
small entities.
The budget of expenses for the 1995-96 fiscal period was prepared
by the Colorado Potato Administrative Committee, Northern Colorado
Office (Area III), the agency responsible for local administration of
the marketing order, and submitted to the Department for approval. The
members of the Committee are producers and handlers of Colorado Area
III potatoes. They are 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. The budget was formulated
and discussed in a public meeting. Thus, all directly affected persons
have had an opportunity to participate and provide input.
The assessment rate recommended by the Committee was derived by
dividing anticipated expenses by expected shipments of Colorado Area
III potatoes. Because that rate will be applied to actual shipments, it
must be established at a rate that will provide sufficient income to
pay the Committee's expenses.
In Colorado, both a State and a Federal marketing order operate
simultaneously. The State order authorizes promotion, including paid
advertising, which the Federal order does not. All expenses in this
category are financed under the State order. The jointly operated
programs consume about equal administrative time and the two orders
continue to split administrative costs equally.
The Committee met on April 13, 1995, and unanimously recommended a
1995-96 budget of $27,362.50, $3,037.50 more than the previous year.
Budget items for the 1995-96 Federal portion of the administrative
budget which have increased compared to those budgeted for 1994-95 (in
parentheses) are: Audit, $450 ($400), medical insurance, $685 ($620),
office equipment, $4,500 ($2,000), payroll tax, $902.50 ($880), Federal
meetings, $500 ($400), and $300 for other salary for which no funding
was recommended last year.
The Committee also unanimously recommended an assessment rate of
$0.02 per hundredweight, the same as last season. This rate, when
applied to anticipated potato shipments of 1,200,500 hundredweight,
will yield $24,010 in assessment income. This, along with $1,500 in
interest income, $1,200 in rent from the sublease of office space to
the State inspection service, and $652.50 from the Committee's
authorized reserve will be adequate to cover budgeted expenses. Funds
in the reserve at the end of the 1995-96 fiscal period, estimated at
$35,195, will be within the maximum permitted by the order of two
fiscal periods' expenses.
An interim final rule was published in the Federal Register on May
31, 1995 (60 FR 28318). That interim final rule added Sec. 948.213 to
authorize expenses and establish an assessment rate for the Committee.
That rule provided that interested persons could file comments through
June 30, 1995. No comments were received.
While this rule 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 will be offset by the benefits derived by 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 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.
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 Committee 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 potatoes handled during the fiscal period. 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.
[[Page 39107]]
List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 948
Marketing agreements, Potatoes, Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements.
For the reasons set forth in the preamble, 7 CFR part 948 is
amended as follows:
Note: This section will not appear in the Code of Federal
Regulations.
PART 948--IRISH POTATOES GROWN IN COLORADO
Accordingly, the interim final rule adding Sec. 948.213 which was
published at 60 FR 28318, May 31, 1995, is adopted as a final rule
without change.
Dated: July 26, 1995.
Sharon Bomer Lauritsen,
Deputy Director, Fruit and Vegetable Division.
[FR Doc. 95-18786 Filed 7-31-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-02-P
