[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 187 (Wednesday, September 27, 1995)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 49748-49749]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-23895]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Agricultural Marketing Service
7 CFR Part 906
[Docket No. FV95-906-2-FIR]
Expenses and Assessment Rate for the Marketing Order Covering
Oranges and Grapefruit Grown in the Lower Rio Grande Valley in Texas
AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA.
ACTION: Final rule.
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SUMMARY: The Department of Agriculture (Department) is adopting as a
final rule, with appropriate modifications, the provisions of an
interim final rule that authorized expenses and established an
assessment rate for the Texas Valley Citrus Committee (TVCC) under
Marketing Order No. 906 for the 1995-96 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, 1995, through July 31, 1996.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Charles L. Rush, Marketing Order
Administration Branch, Fruit and Vegetable Division, AMS, USDA, P.O.
Box 96456, room 2523-S, Washington, D.C. 20090-6456, telephone: (202)
690-3670; or Belinda G. Garza, McAllen Marketing Field Office, Fruit
and Vegetable Division, AMS, USDA, 1313 East Hackberry, McAllen Texas
78501, telephone: (210) 682-2833.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This 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 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 final rule has been reviewed under Executive Order 12778,
Civil Justice Reform. Under the marketing order provisions now in
effect, Texas oranges and grapefruit are subject to assessments. It is
intended that the assessment rate as issued herein will be applicable
to all assessable oranges and grapefruit handled during the 1995-96
fiscal year, which begins August 1, 1995, and ends July 31, 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 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),
[[Page 49749]]
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 15 handlers of oranges and grapefruit
regulated under the marketing order each season and approximately 750
orange and grapefruit producers in Texas. 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 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 oranges and grapefruit 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 16, 1995, and unanimously recommended expenses
of $1,035,000 and an assessment rate of $0.10 per \7/10\ bushel carton.
In comparison, budgeted expenses for the 1994-95 fiscal year were
$1,161,244, which is $126,244 more than the $1,035,000 recommended for
the 1995-96 fiscal year. The assessment rate of $0.10 is $0.06 less
than last season's assessment rate of $0.16.
The TVCC met again on August 15, 1995, and unanimously recommended
revised expenses of $1,008,643. The recommended assessment rate remains
at $0.10 per \7/10\ bushel carton.
The TVCC's reduced expenses are a result of the signing of a joint
management agreement with the Texas Citrus and Vegetable Association.
Major expense categories for the 1995-96 fiscal year include
$500,000 for advertising, $180,000 for compliance operations, and
$174,000 for the Mexican Fruit Fly support program.
Assessment income for the 1995-96 fiscal year is estimated at
$832,500 based upon anticipated fresh domestic shipments of 8,325,000
cartons of oranges and grapefruit. This, in addition to a withdrawal of
$167,143 from the TVCC's reserve fund, and $9,000 estimated interest
income should be adequate to cover budgeted expenses. In comparison,
the assessment income for the 1994-95 fiscal year was estimated at
$960,000 based upon anticipated fresh domestic shipments of 6 million
cartons of oranges and grapefruit.
Funds in the reserve at the end of the 1995-96 fiscal year are
estimated at $315,433. These reserve funds will be within the maximum
permitted by the order of one fiscal year's expenses.
The TVCC budget was authorized by an interim final rule issued on
June 15, 1995, and published in the Federal Register [60 FR 32257, June
21, 1995]. A 30-day comment period was provided for interested persons.
No comments were received. Although no comments were received, the TVCC
met subsequent to the issuance of the interim final rule and
recommended a reduction in budgeted expenses for the 1995-96 fiscal
year. The recommended reduction from $1,035,000 to $1,008,643 is
incorporated in this final rule.
While this action will impose 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 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.
Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553, it is also found and determined 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 1995-96 fiscal year for the TVCC began
August 1, 1995, 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; and (3) handlers are aware
of this action which was recommended by the TVCC at a public meeting
and published in the Federal Register as an interim final rule that is
adopted in this action as a final rule with a minor modification.
List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 906
Grapefruit, Marketing agreements and orders, 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 action will not appear in the annual Code of Federal
Regulations.
2. The interim amendment to 7 CFR part 906 which was published at
60 FR 32257 on June 21, 1995, is adopted as a final rule with the
following change:
Sec. 906.235 [Corrected]
On page 32258, second column, in the regulatory text, the reference
to ``$1,035,000'' is corrected to read ``$1,008,643.''
Dated: September 20, 1995.
Sharon Bomer Lauritsen,
Deputy Director, Fruit and Vegetable Division.
[FR Doc. 95-23895 Filed 9-26-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-02-P
