[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 148 (Wednesday, August 3, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-18881]
[[Page Unknown]]
[Federal Register: August 3, 1994]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Agricultural Marketing Service
7 CFR Part 906
[Docket No. FV94-906-1IFR]
Oranges and Grapefruit Grown in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of
Texas; Expenses and Assessment Rate for the 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 Texas Valley Citrus Committee
(TVCC) under Marketing Order (M.O.) No. 906 for the 1994-95 fiscal
year. Authorization of this budget enables the TVCC 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 August 1, 1994, through July 31, 1995.
Comments received by September 2, 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 Belinda Garza, McAllen Marketing Field Office, Fruit and
Vegetable Division, AMS, USDA, 1313 East Hackberry, McAllen, Texas
78501, telephone: (210) 682-2833.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This interim final rule is issued under
Marketing Agreement and Order No. 906 [7 CFR Part 906] regulating the
handling of oranges and grapefruit grown in the lower Rio Grande Valley
in Texas. 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, oranges and grapefruit grown in Texas are subject to
assessments. It is intended that the assessment rate specified herein
will be applicable to all assessable citrus fruit handled during the
1994-95 fiscal year, beginning August 1, 1994, through July 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 approximately 135 handlers of oranges and grapefruit
regulated under the marketing order each season and approximately 2,500
orange and grapefruit producers in Texas. 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 Texas orange and grapefruit marketing order, administered by
the Department, requires that the assessment rate for a particular
fiscal year apply to all assessable citrus fruit handled from the
beginning of such year. Annual budgets of expenses are prepared by the
TVCC, the agency responsible for local administration of this marketing
order, and submitted to the Department for approval. The members of the
TVCC are handlers and producers of Texas oranges and grapefruit. They
are familiar with the TVCC'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 TVCC'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 TVCC is derived by dividing
the anticipated expenses by expected shipments of oranges and
grapefruit. Because that rate is applied to actual shipments, it must
be established at a rate which will provide sufficient income to pay
the TVCC's expected expenses.
The TVCC met on May 10, 1994, and unanimously recommended total
expenses of $1,141,944 and an assessment rate of $0.16 per \7/10\
bushel carton for the 1994-95 fiscal year. In comparison, the 1993-94
fiscal year expense amount was $984,319, which is $157,625 less than
the recommended $1,141,944 for this season and the assessment rate was
$0.15, which is $0.01 less than that recommended for the 1993-94 fiscal
year.
Assessment income for the 1994-95 fiscal year is expected to amount
to $960,000 based upon estimated fresh domestic shipments of 6 million
cartons of oranges and grapefruit. This, in addition to a withdrawal of
$181,944 from the TVCC's reserve fund, should be adequate to cover
budgeted expenses. In comparison, the assessment income for the 1993-94
fiscal year was estimated at $825,000 based upon anticipated fresh
domestic shipments of 5.5 million cartons of oranges and grapefruit.
Funds in the reserve at the end of the fiscal year, estimated at
$276,468, will be within the maximum permitted by the order of one
fiscal year's expenses.
Major expense categories for the 1994-95 fiscal year include
$132,444 for shared administrative expenses with the South Texas Onion
and Melon Committees, $650,000 for advertising, compared to $723,425
for the 1993-94 fiscal year, and $174,000 for the Mexican Fruit Fly
support program.
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 TVCC 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 TVCC needs to have sufficient funds to pay its
expenses which are incurred on a continuous basis; (2) the fiscal year
for the TVCC begins August 1, 1994, and the marketing order requires
that the rate of assessment for the fiscal year apply to all assessable
oranges and grapefruit handled during the fiscal year; (3) handlers are
aware of this action which was recommended by the TVCC 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 906
Grapefruit, Marketing agreements, Oranges, Reporting and
recordkeeping requirements.
For the reasons set forth in the preamble, 7 CFR Part 906 is
amended as follows:
PART 906--ORANGES AND GRAPEFRUIT GROWN IN LOWER RIO GRANDE VALLEY
IN TEXAS
1. The authority citation for 7 CFR Part 906 continues to read as
follows:
Authority: 7 U.S.C. 601-674.
Note: This section will not appear in the annual Code of Federal
Regulations.
2. A new Sec. 906.234 is added to read as follows:
Sec. 906.234 Expenses and assessment rate.
Expenses of $1,141,944 by the Texas Valley Citrus Committee are
authorized and an assessment rate of $0.16 per \7/10\ carton on
assessable oranges and grapefruit is established for the fiscal year
ending July 31, 1995. Unexpended funds may be carried over as a
reserve.
Dated: July 28, 1994.
Robert C. Keeney,
Deputy Director, Fruit and Vegetable Division.
[FR Doc. 94-18881 Filed 8-2-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-02-P
