[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 165 (Friday, August 26, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-21092]
[[Page Unknown]]
[Federal Register: August 26, 1994]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
7 CFR Part 926
[Docket No. FV94-926-1FIR]
Tokay Grapes Grown in San Joaquin County, CA; Expenses and
Assessment Rate for 1994-95 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 changes, the provisions of the interim final rule
which authorized expenses and established an assessment rate for the
Tokay Grape Industry Committee (Committee) under Marketing Order 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.
EFFECTIVE DATE: April 1, 1994, through March 31, 1995.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Britthany Beadle, 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 Rose Aguayo, 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 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 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
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 approximately 3 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 Sec. 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.
An interim final rule was published in the Federal Register [59 FR
30872, June 16, 1994] and provided a 30-day comment period for
interested persons. 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 1994-95 fiscal year for the program began April 1, 1994. The
marketing order requires that the rate of assessment apply to all
assessable grapes handled during the fiscal year. In addition, handlers
are aware of this action which was recommended by the Committee at a
public meeting and published in the Federal Register as an interim
final rule. No comments were received concerning the interim final rule
that is adopted in this action as a final rule without change.
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
Accordingly, the interim final rule amending 7 CFR Part 926 which
was published at 59 FR 30872 on June 16, 1994, is adopted as a final
rule without change.
Dated: August 22, 1994.
Eric M. Forman,
Deputy Director, Fruit and Vegetable Division.
[FR Doc. 94-21092 Filed 8-25-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-02-P
