[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 155 (Friday, August 12, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-19784]
[[Page Unknown]]
[Federal Register: August 12, 1994]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
7 CFR Part 987
[Docket No. FV94-987-1IFR]
Domestic Dates Produced or Packed in Riverside County, CA;
Expenses and Assessment Rate
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 under Marketing Order No. 987 for the
1994-95 crop year. Authorization of this budget enables the California
Date Administrative Committee (Committee) to incur expenses that are
reasonable and necessary to administer the program. Funds to administer
this program are derived from assessments on handlers.
DATES: Effective October 1, 1994, through September 30, 1995. Comments
received by September 12, 1994, will be considered prior to issuance of
a final rule.
ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit written comments
concerning this action. Comments must be sent in triplicate to the
Docket Clerk, Fruit and Vegetable Division, AMS, USDA, P.O. Box 96456,
Room 2523-S, Washington, DC 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: Martha Sue Clark, Marketing Order
Administration Branch, Fruit and Vegetable Division, AMS, USDA, P.O.
Box 96456, room 2523-S, Washington, DC 20090-6456, telephone 202-720-
9918; or Maureen Pello, California Marketing Field Office, Fruit and
Vegetable Division, AMS, USDA, 2202 Monterey Street, suite 102B,
Fresno, California 93721, telephone 209-487-5901.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This rule is issued under Marketing
Agreement and Order No. 987, both as amended (7 CFR part 987),
regulating the handling of dates produced or packed in Riverside
County, California. 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 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 now in effect,
California dates are subject to assessments. Funds to administer the
California date marketing order are derived from such assessments. It
is intended that the assessment rate as issued herein will be
applicable to all assessable dates during the 1994-95 crop year which
begins October 1, 1994, and ends September 30, 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 8c(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 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 135 producers of California dates under the
marketing order and approximately 25 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 California date
producers and handlers may be classified as small entities.
The budget of expenses for the 1994-95 crop year was prepared by
the California Date Administrative Committee, 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 California dates. 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 California
dates. 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.
The Committee met on March 17, 1994, and by a vote of 6 to 2 with
one abstention recommended a 1994-95 budget and assessment rate. The
Committee again met on July 7, 1994, and unanimously recommended the
line item operating expenses and by a vote of 6 to 2 recommended the
line item promotional expenses in the budget. The 1994-95 budget of
$571,000 is $101,440 less than the previous year. Included in the
budgeted expenditures is an operating budget of $135,135, $13,335 more
than last year, with a 26 percent surplus account allocation, for a net
operating budget of $100,000, or $2,560 more than last year. Budget
items for 1994-95 which have increased compared to those budgeted for
1993-94 (in parentheses) are: Executive Director's salary, $57,500
($55,000), Administrative Assistant's salary, $18,500 ($15,000), health
and related benefits, $8,500 ($7,500), utilities, $1,500 ($1,200),
telephone, $5,000 ($3,000), office supplies, $3,600 ($1,500), furniture
and equipment, $7,400 ($1,000), printing, $1,600 ($1,000), and
insurance, $2,500 ($2,300). Items which have decreased compared to the
amount budgeted for 1993-94 (in parentheses) are: payroll taxes, $5,814
($6,000), postage and meter rental, $1,700 ($2,000), repair and
maintenance $500 ($600), travel and mileage, $1,500 ($2,000),
contingency, $221 ($4,000), and market promotion, $450,000 ($575,000).
The Committee also eliminated funding for a clerk, unemployment
reserve, and USDA compliance audits for which $6,000, $1,000, and
$1,900 were recommended last year, respectively. All other items are
budgeted at last year's amounts.
The assessment rate of $1.50 per hundredweight is $0.25 more than
last season. This rate, when applied to anticipated date shipments of
38,000,000 pounds, will yield $570,000 in assessable income. This,
along with $1,000 in interest income, will result in $21,000 in excess
income which the Committee recommended be allocated to its reserve.
These reserve funds, which the Committee estimates would be $121,000 as
of September 30, 1995, would be within the maximum amount permitted by
the order of not to exceed 50 percent of the average of expenses
incurred during the most recent five preceding crop years, except that
an established reserve need not be reduced to conform to any recomputed
average. Funds held by the Committee at the end of the crop year,
including the reserve, which are in excess of the crop year's expenses
may be used to defray expenses for four months and thereafter the
Committee shall refund or credit the excess funds to the handlers.
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 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.
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 because: (1) The Committee needs to have sufficient funds to pay
its expenses which are incurred on a continuous basis; (2) the crop
year begins on October 1, 1994, and the marketing order requires that
the rate of assessment for the crop year apply to all assessable dates
handled during the crop year; (3) handlers are aware of this action
which was unanimously recommended by the Committee at a public meeting
and is similar to other budget 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 action.
List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 987
Dates, Marketing agreements, Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements.
For the reasons set forth in the preamble, 7 CFR part 987 is
amended as follows:
PART 987--DOMESTIC DATES PRODUCED OR PACKED IN RIVERSIDE COUNTY,
CALIFORNIA
1. The authority citation for 7 CFR part 987 continues to read as
follows:
Authority: 7 U.S.C. 601-674.
2. A new Sec. 987.337 is added to read as follows:
Note: This section will not appear in the Code of Federal
Regulations.
Sec. 987.337 Expenses and assessment rate.
Expenses of $571,000 by the California Date Administrative
Committee are authorized, and an assessment rate of $1.50 per
hundredweight of assessable dates is established for the crop year
ending September 30, 1995. Unexpended funds may be carried over as a
reserve within the limitations specified in Sec. 987.72(c) and (d).
Dated: August 8, 1994.
Eric M. Forman,
Deputy Director, Fruit and Vegetable Division.
[FR Doc. 94-19784 Filed 8-11-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-02-P
